


Helpless

by followmetoyourdoom



Series: The Helpless Universe [1]
Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: (the worst part is that I enjoy both ships so rip me lol), F/F, F/M, Hamilton AU, also there's some Praxiris at the beginning but yeah... doesn't last, but i like Iristo just that lil bit more lol, kinda????, like I'm only using Satisfied and Helpless as inspiration, oh and Prax and Mephisto are royals in this fic bc it fits better, sorry Prax, then it veers off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2018-11-04 22:25:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followmetoyourdoom/pseuds/followmetoyourdoom
Summary: In a universe in which Gramorr doesn't attack Ephedia, Princess Iris was able to grow up safely on her own planet, and Praxina and Mephisto never turned evil. Based off the songs Satisfied and Helpless from Hamilton, though the fic will not follow the rest of the role, and even within those songs, certain things will be different.





	1. Royal Meetings

Not far from Earth was a small planet called Ephedia, their days shorter, and one Earth year equal to four of theirs. It was a place of peace, prosperity and magic, made up of six kingdoms. When there was a celebration in the capital, almost every royal and noble across the land was invited, and this celebration was one of the biggest ones yet.

It was the Crown Princess Iris' seventy second birthday. 

The kingdom of Ephedia was putting on a giant gala and ball in honour of their princess, sparing no expense. Everyone who was anyone was there, from the furthest kingdom to the most distant noble.

Praxina, Royal Princess of The Kingdom of Runic was darting about the ballroom, chatting and dazzling every person that laid eyes on her. Praxina was strong, beautiful, and everyone - including Praxina - knew it. However, her bold sarcastic nature tended to put most people off. She was calculated, ambitious, charming, and nothing and no-one could ever tell her what to do.

Except that is, for her twin brother, Mephisto. The younger Royal Prince of Runic, Mephisto was smart, trusting, and kind, if a bit of a goof. He was less outgoing than his sister and, due to his clumsy nature, tended to stick to the sidelines at such social events. Ever the friendlier and more approachable twin, Mephisto was happy to lend a hand to those in need, and made a point to always repay his debts.

The two siblings were as close to and as different from each other as they could be.

Mephisto had gone to get extra drinks at his sister's request, while Praxina herself tried her chances socialising once again. So many men tried flirting with her only to be immediately turned down, and Praxina was tempted to sit back down again when she saw her.

Iris. The Crown Princess of Ephedia, gliding into the room with all her beauty and power.

Praxina was floored.

She had heard of the Princess yes, but never actually seen her before, but she didn't have to in order to recognise her. Yet the bards with their tales of her greatness did not do her justice, Praxina could tell just from looking at her.

Iris' eyes shone intelligently, and hair sparkled a brilliant powerful pink and reached her mid thighs. She carried herself with such dignity and grace that Praxina thought she might be floating across the floor.

Praxina herself found her feet own slowly lifting off of the floor and quickly grounded herself, keeping her magic under control.

The Crown Princess took her time greeting the other royals, enthusiastically hugging two princesses in particular. Praxina swallowed the lump in her throat as she imagined receiving such a hug, and boldly walked up to the Princess.

A curtsy, then a simple, "Greetings, Princess Iris," hoping her nerves didn't show.

"Hello," Iris tilted her head, smiling at the lovestruck Praxina whose her heart was aflutter after hearing the Princess' voice for the first time, "and you are?"

"I'm…" it took her a second to remember her own name, "Praxina. Uh, Princess of Runic."

At this Iris' face lit up, her smile became a genuine one rather than polite one. "Oh I've heard of you!"

"You have?" Praxina collected herself, "I mean, of course you have."

Iris nodded eagerly. "Word around the castle is that you had one of the earliest Shanila's in recent history."

"Yes I- wait 'one of'."

But Iris hadn't heard her, "You must honour me with a dance, Princess of Runic!"

And before she knew it, Praxina was being dragged onto the ballroom floor by none other than the Crown Princess herself.

"I'm sure it must be difficult," Iris chatted as she took the lead, sweeping the pair across the floor in a flourish, "to find someone who can compete with such talent."

Praxina was feeling much more comfortable now; dancing she could do, and do well.

Especially when she didn't have to bother about taking the lead.

Glancing at the Princess, Praxina gave Iris her best flirtatious grin and replied, "Well of course, but you yourself must know how hard that is."

"Maybe I've found my match," Iris taunted, equally flirtatious but gleefully so.

Now confident, Praxina took over and twirled Iris on the spot before pulling her back towards her dramatically. Her face milimetres from Iris' she whispered, "Maybe we should test that theory out."

Iris giggled and tapped Praxina on the nose, "Another time, Princess of Runic. I have my duties to attend to."

And with that she was gone.

Praxina sighed dreamily and wandered back into the crowd. Dozens of people tried to talk to her but the most they could get was a 'mm-hm'. She was too busy remembering the feel of Iris' hand in hers, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, and how perfect their short conversation had been.

She would be lying if she wasn't thinking about taking things further.

Until she saw her brother.

Her brother, whose face was flushed, whose eyes were shining, whose mouth was parted with awe. She had never seen her brother look this way before.

He looked helpless.

And he was looking at the Crown Princess.

Praxina double checked, then triple, quadruple checked. But no, there could be no doubt.

He had fallen for Iris, just as she had.

Mephisto had been coming back from getting drinks, placing them on their table while he glanced around the room for his sister. He had spotted her straight away of course, charming her way through the crowd. Chuckling, he'd gone to fetch her.

That is, until he'd caught sight of Princess Iris walking into the room.

The Prince had felt his heart lurch, booming loudly in his chest. Every eye in the room had seemed to turn to her but Mephisto hadn't noticed. Even from a distance he'd felt entranced by her; and, so lost in her he'd been, he had been easily startled by the sudden rush of people as they had surged forwards to meet her.

Mephisto had fallen back, scooting away from the big crowd and had attempted to catch Iris' eye from the side of the ballroom. But alas he hadn't been able to even spot her again until now.

She was right there, just across the room from him.

Mephisto just stared, he didn't know what else to do.

Praxina bit her lip.

She knew what she had to do.

Steeling herself, Praxina made her way across the room back to Iris, meanwhile Mephisto looked on nervously, now having noticed his sister as she made a beeline towards the Crown Princess.

 _This is going to end badly,_ he thought, _I'm through, there's no way she'll look at me when Praxina's there-_

And then she did.

But of course, Praxina had pointed him out to Iris. Praxina had dragged Iris away from some random royal figure or other - she hadn't cared to check who it was - with a promise of changing her life. And, curious, Iris had followed.

Now she was staring at Mephisto, and their faces mirrored.

For Iris, flirting with Praxina had been a game, nothing more, or so she told herself. And if the Princess of Runic was introducing her to someone else then clearly she'd had similar intentions, so it didn't matter if Iris was still a bit shaky about her own.

Iris didn't know how wrong she was.

As she stopped in front of Mephisto, he bowed hastily, "Mephisto, Prince of-"

She interrupted him with a delightful laugh and Mephisto swore it was the most melodic sound he'd ever heard. "I know you," Iris gushed, taking his hand, "the strongest male magic user since Gwydion himself!"

And just like that, Praxina was forgotten completely.

"My brother," she said proudly, letting that emotion take a hold of her, for the rest were too painful to bare thinking about.

Mephisto grinned sheepishly, turning over the hand Iris still held and placing a gentle kiss on hers. "Thank you, for everything you've done for Ephedia. I'm honoured to be attending such a spectacular event, Princess Iris."

"Oh please," she insisted, "just call me Iris."

"I'll leave you to it," Praxina called out, turned her back on the couple before they could see her face. Though she needn't have worried.

They didn't even noticed her leaving.

Praxina knew, she knew that if she told Mephisto the truth, he'd give the Crown Princess up, just like that. Iris would be hers, her brother would say he was fine.

This would of course be a lie.

She'd seen his face, she knew how he felt, for she felt the same.

Mephisto had never been one to hide his emotions; but Praxina could, she could do this. She could keep up a facade and pretend like everything was fine. So long as it ensured her brother's happiness, she could do this.

There was no-one more important to her than him.

Regardless, she was the Princess of Runic, the _only_ Princess of Runic. Her kingdom still needed a ruler, and as the eldest, it was her duty. Not to mention she was quite looking forwards to being in charge once she became Queen.

This once had filled her with great pride. Now she didn't know what to feel.

Praxina bowed her head and wandered back to her table, sipping the now warm drink she'd sent Mephisto to get what seemed like so long ago.

She sighed and looked back at her brother and the Princess.

This was a mistake.

They were now leaning against each other, Iris with her head rested against Mephisto's shoulder smiling up at him as he grinned down at her. They were chatting enthusiastically, laughing and giggling together.

They looked at each other as if they'd found perfection.

No-one would ever look at her like that.

Little did she know there had been someone who'd had her eyes on her since the moment Praxina had first introduced herself to Iris. A certain Princess of Xeris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry Prax, don't worry you'll be okay. Feedback is welcomed tho please be aware the characters will be slightly different from canon due to the different upbringings.


	2. Crystal Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A exploration into Iris' coming of age ceremony where she must face a series of trials presented to her by the vassal queens in order to determine what area of study she should focus on. Surely nothing could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is where it veers sharply away from Hamilton lol

It was well into the night when Mephisto finally parted ways with Iris, and even then it was only because of the coming of age ceremony. He returned to his seat to watch, gushing with happiness and ready to tell Praxina all about what had happened.

"...and then she was giggling while I was trying to dance with her, not in a mean way, not at all. I don't think she could be mean. And she's so good at dancing, almost as good as you."

Praxina already knew this of course and so replied with a simple, "Mmhm."

"She's so graceful, and the way her eyes light up! I swear she has the sky trapped in them. And she has these adorable freckles and when she blushes her cheeks turn the same colour as her hair," Mephisto enthused, looking at Iris as he did, adding. "By the way one of her friends kept looking over at you."

"That's nice," she mumbled, not really paying attention anymore.

The Queen of Ephedia had finished welcoming each kingdom and called upon the queen of each to come forwards.

Acherontia, the Queen of Runic, winked at her children, having been listening in to the conversation as mothers are wont to. "Make sure you keep up a correspondence with the Crown Princess, Mephisto," she stage whispered as she stood up. 

Her husband wiggled his eyebrows at Mephisto. "The Crown Princess ey," he nudged his son's arm then turned to Praxina. "How's your hunt for a wife going?Though you'll have to make sure you don't go for any of the eldest princesses." He pointed towards the Xerin table, "There's a pretty lady over there, and Xeris is known for it's-"

Praxina groaned in response, "Not right now, Father. Just watch the ceremony."

Father and son exchanged a look and shrugged.

They were only trying to help.

All the kingdom queens now stood before the Ephedian royal family. They bowed and then the Queen of Calix stepped forwards.

"Princess Iris should prove her strength," she spoke in a gruff voice, "she must be strong enough to punch through even the toughest of defenses. I call upon Auriana of Volta to create a shield to challenge Iris of Ephedia."

Auriana jumped up from the Voltan table and practically rushed into the battle circle, she was there before Iris had even stepped down into it.

Giving her friend a thumbs up, Auriana shouted, "Crystarmum!"

Iris summoned her own magic with a cry of "Crystempactus," and ran at the orange shield, arm pulled back ready to strike. She hit the shield once, twice; Auriana gritting her teeth against her power. The third time, the shield shattered and the princess of Volta fell to her knees.

As the crystal around her fist dispersed, Iris held her hand out to Auriana, pulling her friend to her feet. Not being able to help herself, Auriana hugged Iris before skipping off back to her seat. Iris shook her head and smiled. She hadn't expected any less from her.

"Strength trail complete," the Queen of Ephedia announced, gesturing towards the next vassal representative.

The Queen of Borealis took her place in front of the battle circle. "Borealis is known for its elegance and its beauty," she said with an air of aloofness. "Princess Iris of Ephedia must present me with an object worthy of my kingdom."

Iris nodded and thought for a moment before activating her magic circle at her feet.

The crowd watched on, enthralled, as Iris placed her palm on the centre and slowly raised her hand up, a dance of magic following her movements and forming the requested object.

It curled upwards, first a beautiful stand of engraved pink crystal and then the base of a cage. As the bars met at the top and wove their way into an elaborate handle, there was a burst of light.

As the particles of crystal settled, a sweet tweeting filled the room.

There in the cage perched three beautiful crystal birds, each and every feather exquisitely designed. Their eyes were a clear bright pearl and they peered intelligently out at the crowded room.

"Messenger birds," Iris explained, "One for each of the high Borealian royals. They will travel across any and all parts of Ephedia to deliver your letters and will never tire. The birds are as graceful as they are reliable."

"I hope these are acceptable," Iris finished.

The Queen of Borealis was not one that was shocked easily, however she found herself speechless when presented with such a spectacular gift. She moved to take the cage, but with a snap of her fingers, Iris transported it across the room to the queen's table. A young Borealian from the extended royal family took an interest in them and stretched her neck out to see the birds, though her mother quickly told her to sit back now. Back at the dais, the Borealian Queen rejoined the rest of the queens with a rather reluctant bow.

Smiling down at Iris, her mother declared the Grace trail passed and called for the Voltan Queen.

"A Queen protects her own," the Queen of Volta begun cheerily, "and to do so her shields must be both powerful and impervious. Crown Princess Iris, what would you do when faced with four- no, FIVE attackers." She spun around to the crowd, "Any volunteers to attack Xiphi while- I mean, the Queen of Ephedia, while the Princess protects her?"

Nobody dared to make the slightest movement.

"Anyone? C'mon, don't you trust your Princess?" At this several people started murmuring over which option would get them exiled the slowest.

The Queen of Ephedia laughed good-naturedly and stood up, "Please rest assured my daughter will not fail. And in the slight chance she does, my husband will jump in," she gestured to the King, "I will not come to any harm."

Several people in the crowd nodded and stepped forwards, Izira, Jodan, Ellira, Carissa, and Lyna among them.

Iris nodded, preparing her shield while five attackers were chosen out of the volunteers.

Jodan was turned away, another Xerin taking his place, and then they were ready to test the princess' shields. They bowed once, then began their attack.

Carissa sprung forwards, stopped only by a shield Iris cast in front of her. Almost immediately, Ellira charged up her own attack and sent it at an angle around the shield, only to be stopped by yet another. Lyna flew above the cloud of crystal dust that had formed and sent crystals raining down, but this attack was also stopped as Iris raised both hands and shields above her head.

Izira and the other Xerin concocted a spell together, sending it towards the Queen. Iris let out a cry of "Crystal Retrosum!" and formed a crystal wall between the attackers and her mother. The spell rebounded and gasps were heard throughout the crowd as they saw it heading towards them.

Thinking quickly, Iris used a Crystal Scala spell to jump over her own wall of crystal, took aim at the bolt of magic and shouted, "Crystal Captis!"

A thin but strong sheet of crystal formed around the attack, neutralising it.

The orb dropped and rolled across the ground, stopping at Iris' feet. She picked it up and handed it to the amazed Xerins.

"Here's your spell back," she said cheerily, hopping back over the crystal wall.

The five attackers regrouped and readied another attack, each coming at the royals from a different direction, various types of spells being prepared in their hands.

"Crystonvexum!" Iris commanded.

A burst of magic swept over the entire hall, pushing the magic attacks away and forming an impenetrable bubble around the royal family.

The Queen of Ephedia smiled widely, "Protection trail passed."

Shocked, the Voltan Queen nodded and stepped back. The attackers went with her and Iris lowered her shield, seemingly none the worse for wear - an incredible feat considering the size of the shield she'd produced.

"She's incredible," Praxina murmured, never having thought much of shields until now.

Mephisto nodded eagerly, eyes still on Iris. "She's been training since she was twelve years old. The Queen brought in the best spellcasters from across all of Ephedia. Morgaine herself taught Iris during her Shanila. She knows spells that even her mother can't fathom."

Praxina frowned. "Why would she need to be so knowledgeable?"

"No idea, but she's amazing." He turned to his sister grinning. "Thank you for introducing me, Prax."

"No problem," she muttered, in a way that implied it very much was a problem.

But Mephisto hadn't heard the tone of her voice, he was too busy watching as the Xerin Queen, Laina, took her place in front of Iris.

"It takes a powerful princess to complete the trails you have passed thus far. However it will take the queen we all hope you become for you to complete mine. There are many spells the Queen of Ephedia should know, however the most grueling of these is the Lystrac Dephiea."

There were gasps heard throughout the hall, such a spell seemed impossible at Iris' age.

"Even your own mother, our dear Xiphi, could not complete this spell in her coming of age ceremony," the Queen of Xeris continued. "Let us see how you fare."

Everyone looked to the princess, expecting a look of shock on her face.

Instead she was just smiling, knowingly.

She knew Laina would ask for this spell - her mother had warned her as much - and so she'd practised it for months on end until Morgaine had declared Iris' skill with the spell superior to her own.

Iris was ready for this.

Summoning her wand, Iris began swirling letters in the air. They floated down to where her magic circle grew around her feet, adding to it. Each one added a different colour to the circle, until the circle's magic glowed a milky white. She then pointed her wand skyward and called upon the magic of the castle's crystal, hair floating in the air. The crystal glowed and hummed, the sound echoing through the entire castle; then there was a sound like breaking glass, and something shot down through the roof of the castle and into Iris' wand.

Her hair gently fell around her shoulders and she lowered her wand. She tapped it against her hand, catching the soft glowing substance that fell out.

She showed it to the court, "Essence from a falling star," she announced proudly. "To replenish the Ephedian Crystals' power."

Xiphi grinned gleefully.

Xeris was a good kingdom, but its current queen tended to draw out any imperfections the other kingdoms' royals had. Especially the Ephedian royals.

Growing up, the two had always had a sort of rivalry. Laina was a few years older, and so belittled Xiphi and rubbed in how much more advanced her own magic was. This of course came naturally with age, so Xiphi never took it much to heart.

But here was her daughter, at only seventy two already more powerful than both herself and her old rival put together.

It was so nice to show  _ her _ up for once.

Iris was now staring at the Queen of Xeris. "Did I fare well, Your Majesty?" she asked pleasantly.

Laina nodded slowly, still surprised; and so Iris finished the spell. She tipped the glowing substance back into her wand and pointed it towards the ceiling once more. "Lystrac Dephiea!" she called out, sending the pure cosmic energy rippling through the crystals that awaited on the roof of the castle.

"Knowledge trial passed," Iris' mother announced melodically. "With flying colours I might add," she joked, poking fun at Laina.

Oh yes, Xiphi was enjoying this.

As Laina returned to her place, Xiphi gestured towards the Queen of Runic to come forwards and present her challenge.

Acherontia curtsied before the royals then stood tall on the edge of the battle circle.

"Princess Iris. You have impressed everyone with your strength, grace, instinct, and wisdom. Now it is time you prove your power, the pure energy you are born with. It cannot be taught, only harnessed."

She glanced back at the Runic table and raised her hand. A sealed chest glowed red then disappeared, reappearing in her hands.

Turning back to the princess, Acherontia placed it at her feet. 

"Within this box," she said as Iris inspected it curiously, "is a block of pure lonsdaleite, extracted over the past five years from the latest asteroid to strike Ephedia. Your task is to use precision power to carve out a perfectly cut gemstone. The type of cut is up to you."

Iris, now having opened the chest, glanced at the stone in awe. It was similar to diamond, but she knew it was far stronger. It would take all her power to even get a chip out of it.

Unless of course she used her Shanila.

Iris nodded - more to herself - and placed the lonsdaleite in the centre of the circle, gesturing for people to move back, just in case. It had been a while since she'd channelled her Shanila and thus intended to be cautious.

The entire court waited with baited breath as Iris delved within her heart, searching for that power she would have to unlock.

Her thoughts, her feelings, her intentions; she would have to connect them all.

Iris thought of her kingdom, of the entirety of Ephedia. She would be the one to protect it and every single person living on the planet. She would have to rise to the occasion- and sooner rather than later if the rumours were true.

There were so many people she wanted to protect: Auriana, Talia, Lyna, Carissa; her mother and father, Ellira, Morgaine…

She cast her mind back to earlier this evening, to her introduction to Praxina and her brother, Mephisto. To the woman she was trying to forget, and the man she was slowly falling for. Neither of them _needed_ protecting- from what Mephisto had told her, both were powerful enough. But Iris would, she would protect them all.

A beat, a thump, a pulse; and she had it.

Her hair paled and floated into the air, crystals forming around it and a crown of light appearing just above her head. Her necklace began to glow and her feet lifted off the ground.

There was a flash of light, and Iris' transformation was complete.

Eyelids that had closed on the sky opened to reveal a pale but powerful pink. Her royal attire replaced by a battle outfit made out of pure crystal energy- she radiated it.

Energy, power... It engulfed her, became her, coursed throughout her veins.

It would surely be enough to cut through the lonsdaleite.

Iris' eyes cast down upon the stone, and steadied her hand in front of her. Pure magic energy sprung from her palm and began carving into the block of lonsdaleite. Furrowing her brow in concentration, Iris pictured a perfectly cut gemstone, willing her magic to create the image in her head.

But something went wrong.

Perhaps her concentration slipped, perhaps she was trying too hard- putting too much power into her magic.

Either way, the effect was the same.

The lonsdaleite began glowing dangerously, then a bright flash of pink tainted light and it exploded, sending shards scattering outwards.

Screams and crashes filled the air as people dove for cover. But of course, there were security measures in place for such extreme circumstances. Shields went up around the battle circle, stopping the majority of the gemstone pieces in their tracks.

But one slipped through. Just one.

And it embedded itself deep into the stomach of the Queen of Xeris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops :>


	3. Political Turmoil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can the Xerin queen be saved? What will this mean for inter-kingdom relationships, how long can they truly live in harmony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's play a game called, "Can You Spot All The Foreshadowing?"

The chaos became pandemonium as Laina crumpled to the floor, one scream breaking through the wall of sound.

"Mother?!? MOM!" The second princess of Xeris sprinted towards the front of the hall, her older sister close on her heels. "Mom you're going be fine, you are..." Talia dropped to her knees, hands pressed onto her mother's wound to stop the bleeding.

Laina murmured softly - too quietly for anyone around her to hear - and tried to pull the lonsdaleite shard out of her stomach, stopped immediately by Izira as she knelt down opposite Talia.

"You cannot, mother. You will bleed out," she whispered calmly. But her hands were shaking as she held them out over her mother's stomach.

A magic circle appeared above the wound; the light catching the tears as they rolled down Talia's face. "You can heal her, right?" she asked urgently, not daring to move her hands away from her mother's wound. "Tell me you can heal her."

"I shall try my best."

After she got over her initial shock, Emilia - the Queen of Volta - took it upon herself to calm the crowd, the Borealian and Calixian Queens leaning a hand when needed.

Many of the royals were whispering between themselves, and when the crowd finally settled, these horrible cruel rumours filled the air:  _ she did it on purpose… must have been the Queen's plan all along… we all know they don't get on… could mean a civil war… it's the princess, the princess is to blame…  _

Luckily, Princess Iris heard none of this- saw none of this.

Her vision was a blur, the look of shock so prevalent on her face it seemed stuck that way. White noise filled her ears and felt almost tangible around her. She didn't even notice she was backing away from the scene until she felt her mother's hands on her shoulders.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know," Xiphi said, the anger in her voice not quite hidden, "accidents happen. However this is going to take months to settle. And with things already uncertain…" She looked to her husband. "Be ready for the worst, Jericho."

He nodded, "For now we show support."

Xiphi passed Iris to him. "Keep an eye on her, I shall go help Laina."

Another nod as Jericho took a firm grip on Iris' shoulder, trying ever so hard not to let his frustrations out on her. But he made a note to increase her training time - clearly she still wasn't fully in control of her magic.

But right now, that wasn't what mattered.

As Izira worked her magic and Xiphi glided across the battle circle to lend her own, Acherontia laid a comforting hand on Talia's shoulder. "This isn't something you should see, sweetheart, don't you want to go and sit down? My daughter would be more than happy to talk to you if you wan-"

"Please let go," Talia said quickly, voice wavering. "I need to be with my mother. If you can help, help. But if not then do not stop me from doing so."

"Very well, I can extract the lonsdaleite when it is appropriate to do so."

Talia glanced at Izira who nodded ever so slightly, "Thank you, that would be most helpful yes."

Having now reached them, Xiphi joined the group, summoning her own magic. "I can provide a protective barrier around the lonsdaleite to momentarily stop the blood flow, that way you will have more time to remove-"

"Don't you think your kind has done enough?" Izira shot at her, her concentration slipping.

Talia jumped and quickly reached to grab her sister's arm. "Izira. She can help. We need help. Apologise to the Queen."

"Her wound, Talia; put your hand back."

Startled, Talia did so quickly, trying very hard not to look at the blood smear she had left on her sister's arm.

"We need to act with haste," Xiphi insisted, "she will not last much longer." As much as she disliked the woman, it would not do to have her die in her own daughter's coming of age ceremony.

Izira huffed angrily. "Fine. … And I apologise for my earlier rudeness, Your Majesty."

"Nothing to be concerned about, your mother is my priority." Xiphi began weaving the shield to stop Laina losing any more blood. "Ready, Acherontia?"

"At your command, my Queen" Ati assured her.

Xiphi nodded; Acherontia crouched at the ready, her own magic dancing across her fingertips which cast a vaguely unsettling red glow. Izira narrowed her eyes but said nothing, finishing up the healing around the wound.

"When Her Majesty is ready, you are to remove the lonsdaleite as quickly as possible and I will begin healing the rest of the wound," Izira said.

Not a few moments later, Xiphi gave the word.

Talia moved round out of the way, whispering words of comfort to her mother and stroking her hair as the Queens and her sister got to work.

For now, the bleeding was held at bay by the weaving. Xiphi concentrated on maintaining it while Acherontia placed her hands on either side of the shard. She muttered softly under her breath and the shard began to glow.

"I apologise Laina, this is going to hurt," Ati said softly. "But it is the only way."

The Xerin Queen's screams cut through the murmurings of the crowd like a meat cleaver as Acherontia used her magic to wiggle the lonsdaleite free. It remained stubbornly wedged in her abdomen until one final pull of magic and it shot off near the centre of the circle.

It hovered in front of Iris, gleaming menacingly as blood dripped down off it. _You did this_ , the shard seemed to accuse her, _you almost killed her._ It hung there for a few seconds, vibrating ever so subtly before the magic glow around it died and it fell on top of the pile of broken lonsdaleite.

And then Ati was there, knitting the stone back together before it could harm anyone else.

Iris blinked and stepped forwards nervously. "I need to help her. This is my fault, I have to help her…"

"No, Iris," Jericho stopped her and turned his daughter around, guiding her towards one of the side doors out of the ballroom. "I think we've seen enough here. The Queens have everything under control."

Iris glanced behind her, wanting to help but slowly realising she might do more harm than good. And so she offered up no resistance as she was pushed towards the door, the judging eyes of almost every royal and noble boring into her.

There were two pairs of eyes in particular however that watched her with concern.

Mephisto shifted forwards in his seat, wanting in equal parts to silence the deceitful mutterings and wrap Iris in a hug and never let her go.

This wasn't her fault.

"There is nothing you can do," Praxina whispered, holding her brother back. "Trust me, otherwise I would be right there with you." Her voice shook with anger, calmed only when Mephisto repeated her own gesture.

"You take the left, I take the right?" he joked.

Praxina snorted quietly under her breath. It was nice to always have her brother on the same page as her. _Usually nice anyway_ , she thought as she glanced at Iris as the King closed the door behind her. Her heart juttered as she remembered her dance with the princess, before everything had gone to Klatznik.

Meanwhile Izira was working as quickly as she could to heal around the blood barrier before it broke.

"Mother is lucky the shard was relatively small," she said shakily as she went about her magic. "Any bigger and…" Izira blinked away tears, her eyes meeting her sister's. Their faces were mirrors.

Acherontia, lonsdaleite now safely in its box on the edge of the circle, returned and gently placed a hand on each of the princesses' shoulder. "She will be fine. You are doing great."

Ati continued her words of encouragement, broken only once when Laina began muttering and attempting to gesture behind them. Talia calmed her down and listened to her ramblings about dark shadows and strange birds, trying very hard to keep a smile on her face for her mother.

Soon enough, Izira finished healing her wound, and Xiphi slowly let the blood barrier drop, guiding the blood itself back into her system.

"She's lost a of blood," Izira noted, "we need to get her to an infirmary as soon as possible."

The Queen of Borealis, Adaline, rushed forwards, "Allow me, I can elevate her body with my magic so her wound does not reopen with unnecessary movements. And we shall get there in twice the time, so there will be no need to worry." Without missing a beat she surrounded Laina with her magic and began moving her out of the room.

Talia and Izira hurried to follow her, Xiphi following closely behind. Before accompanying the Xerin royal family and Ephedian Queen, Acherontia grabbed the lonsdaleite chest.

Or she would have done had it actually been there.

Ati frowned and looked around wildly, searching for it. The lonsdaleite was both rare and powerful in its own right. A properly cut gem could boost the carriers magic almost indefinitely - she had intended for it to be a gift for Xiphi, to add to the crown.

And now it was missing - or taken.

Across the room, Praxina frowned. "Something is wrong."

"You don't say," Mephisto muttered dryly, gesturing subtly at the Xerin royals and their entourage as they got close to the main doors. They were situated almost right next to the Runic table, so they had a perfect view of the on-goings.

"No! I mean with _Mother_!" she stressed, squishing Mephisto's cheeks and facing him in the right direction. "See! She's looking for something. Father, you can see it too right?"

Mephisto, not really given any other choice, looked towards his mother. "Oh yesh, I shee."

The twins' father, Hugo, had noticed it straight away and was very very tempted to teleport right over there. But none of the other minor ruling royals were getting up. Hugo grumbled. "Something's up for sure. But goodness knows what royal Ephedian etiquette or other I'll break by standing up."

"Dat's true," Mephisto got out.

Praxina let go of him and stood up, "I shall go and help her. You stay here and make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Will do!" father and son said at the same time, then glanced at each other.

As they burst out laughing, Praxina shook her head. "Please remember we are witnessing a tragedy here."

"Okay, Mom," Mephisto said sarcastically, giving Hugo another reason to chuckle.

"Just… behave. Both of you."

In response, they saluted her, tongues sticking out and eyes crossed. Praxina opened her mouth ever so slightly to retort back, but then closed it firmly and began making her way towards her mother, brushing past the Xerin royals as she did so. If she stayed any longer she'd never get away. There was no winning when her brother and father teamed up, their sheer stubbornness to not take anything seriously was enough to drive even the most patient of people mad.

Acherontia, for her part, was now asking the remaining queens if they had seen the chest.

"Well, Liv?"

The Calixian Queen Regnant thought for a moment. "Can't say that I have," she replied, "these sort of events aren't my style, you know that Ati. What'd you say, Melissa, honey? Notice anything?"

"Nah, love. I was keeping my eye on the boys- Carissa's on it now that the trials are… well over I suppose. But throughout them that Voltan Princess kept settling glances at our Theo.  Or trying to anyway," she added, laughing slightly at the memory. 

"Wait, the Voltan Princess that's friends with the Crown Princess?"

Livia nodded and they began discussing possible marriage arrangements for their son, completely forgetting about Ati.

"Riveting though this is, ladies," she put in, halting the conversation between the Calixian Queens, "that lonsdaleite is very important. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me immediately should you see a little iron and gold plated chest.

"Yeah sure, will do. Hey Em! EMILIA!!" The Voltan Queen turned her head towards the sound of Livia's voice. "YEAH, CAN I TALK TO YOU FOR A SECOND?"

"OF COURSE LIV!" she called back, bouncing up out of her seat.

Thankfully for her husband, Erik, only the five eldest Voltan children had been brought alone to the ruling kingdom; and this was mainly to find them suitable partners given the high number of potential suitors at the celebration.

Priska, their eldest daughter - and future ruler of Volta -  had already married a relatively new royal Voltan guard she had fallen in love with over the summer. Not much was known about the young man, but he seemed genuine in his love for their daughter (not to mention his magic was nothing to turn their nose up against) and so the Queen and King had allowed it.

Jodan, their eldest son, had no problem catching the attention of the various royal princesses and dames, but alas he did not seem interested in them.

There was of course no rush, not now Priska had a husband by her side, but it didn't hurt to give their children a little push of encouragement should an ideal suitor make an appearance.

Which was exactly what the Queens of Calix were planning to provide.

The Queen of Volta joined the group of Queens, Acherontia jumping forwards immediately. "Ah perfect, Emilia, can-"

"EM!" Livia rushed to embrace her friend who gleefully returned the hug. "You're not going to believe this, Emilia, but," she looked to her wife, "we believe we've found you a match for your Auriana."

As the three Queens shrieked happily and began talking once again about arrangements, Ati sighed unhappily. "Nooo, I need her to find the…" she trailed off, realising they wouldn't be any use to her, not when there was gossip to be had. She wouldn't mind if it was on one of their ladies nights, or even arrangements for her own children - which she still needed to organise - but even so what with the disappearance of-

Archeronita jumped as someone tapped her on the shoulder, sharply pulling her away from her worries.

"GAH! Oh," she turned to find her daughter looking inquisitively at her, "it's just you dear."

Praxina nodded, "I saw you searching for something, Mother. What is troubling you? Have you lost something?"

"Well… yes and no. The lonsdaleite appears to have vanished into thin air. I distinctly remember placing the chest here," she tapped the floor irritably with her foot. "And that was after reforming the stone, placing it in its box, and then returning to help poor Laina - you know the Qu-"

"I know, Mother."

Ati blinked, "Oh yes, of course you do. Anyway yes, it's just… gone!" she threw her hands up in the air, baffled. "I believe someone must have stolen it, if I am being perfectly honest."

The Runic Princess thought for a moment, "Was anyone watching the lonsdaleite while you were attending to the Xerin Queen?" When her mother shook her head, Praxina rolled her eyes. "You should have teleported it back to our table."

"Yes I know that!" Ati snapped, lowering her voice slightly. "But I was a little preoccupied preventing a woman from _dying_."

"What about asking around?"

Ati whined," That's what i've been trying to do! But all Liv and Mel want to talk about is which daughter is going to marry who's son or daughter and-" She trailed off, an idea flourishing in her mind.

After a full minute of silence, Praxina prompted her, "Mother?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, "Oh yes. … Praxinaaa..." she said coyly, a big grin on her face as she formulated her plan.

"...Yeees?" she answered, matching her mother's tone of voice but frowning.

Acherontia snaked her arm around Praxina's shoulders and squeezed gently. "Be a dear and go talk to the young princess of Xe-"

She was cut off abruptly as the main doors to the ballroom slammed open, Xiphi striding in elegantly. Adaline was close on her heels, her own stride somewhat off. Perhaps she was trying too hard to  imitate the other queen's royal aura, but failing to do so ever so slightly. Because of course, a queen sets and follows her own rules, not those of others. 

As Xiphi made her way to the front of the hall offering the Runic women a graceful nod, the Borealian Queen returned to her seat.

Praxina tugged her mother's sleeve pointedly and began walking back to their table.

Glancing around frantically one last time, Ati reluctantly followed her daughter, vowing to shove her at the young Xerin Princess the next chance she got. This union could prove to be essential, especially with the Crown Princess showing interest in her son.

Marrying into the two most politically powerful families on the planet? Why it was an opportunity Acherontia couldn't resist. 

Her own husband was a Borealian - the Queen's brother in fact - so they were already guaranteed to have that kingdom on their side, should the reason arise for it. Another two would surely seal the deal.

But for now, Ati would tread carefully. Or, at least, as carefully as her inquisitive nature would allow.

The Queen of Ephedia called for silence. "The events of tonight," she began, "shall not rest in silence. I have spoken to the Xerin Queen and she is now recovering from her injury. My daughter, Iris, will be presenting a full formal apology to Xeris, and her coming of age ceremony will be postponed until such a time when she is able to control her power. I apologise for any distress this accident has incurred and hope the rest of the evening passes without incident.

"Thank you for your time."

Xiphi inclined her head and returned to the throne, ready for the night to come to an end - she had had enough of dealing with pleasantries and politics and calls to action. If a fight broke out here and now, she didn't think she would be able to pay attention to it, let alone handle it.

Thankfully, people seemed to be relaxing now; the egra nectar perhaps encouraging this subdued behavior. People were gossiping, introducing their children to others around their social level and age, and all round trying to put the night's unfortunate incident behind them.

And so the party got back underway, the noise level rising. However, ever so faintly, the crisp chirpings of two crystal birds could be heard amidst the chattings.

If one cared to pay attention, that is.


	4. Union Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving past the devastating events of the coming of age ceremony, how will the Ephedians solve the interkingdom disputes? Perhaps the Queen of Runic can be of help.

The Crown Princess did not return to the ballroom before the festivities ended. Royals and nobles flooded out of the Ephedian castle in groups, most of the adults giggling stupidly and stumbling about. The Borealians and Voltans had carriages waiting for them; the Calixian royals called for their mounts; and the Runics teleported away, the twins mournfully looking back at the castle before they did. 

Izira was to return to Xeris on her own - her Kingdom needed her to step up as Queen until her mother's blood transfusion was complete. Talia would stay with Laina to ensure no more harm came to her. 

A group of Xerin guards stood ready and waiting at the castle gates, ready to escort Izira home to Xeris. Several of them stayed behind to provide support for Talia and Laina.

The Xerins were not taking any chances.

Only Talia was allowed in and out of her mother's sick room. Izira had already donated some of her own blood and now Talia had stepped up, transferring as much blood as was needed in steady amounts. In case Laina's body rejected the blood, Izira had taught Talia some more advanced healing spells in the hope of finding a solution there. But that was a last resort; regardless the younger princess had thrown herself into her studies.

Talia had been a happy go-lucky child. Never many worries on her plate, and the few she had, banished by a simple song. 

But as she got older she realised why her mother was always tense when her friend Iris was visiting or vica versa, why she'd restricted the amount of time they could see each other after the Ephedian Princess passed her Shanila. Why her father always stayed behind to protect the kingdom if Laina needed to attend business in the capital.

Iris had told her it was because her father, Jericho, used to be Laina's best general, her proudest warrior. Until he fell in love with the Ephedian Queen - at the time still the princess - on a recon mission. 

More than half of the Xerin army followed him to Ephedia, leaving Xeris unprotected and Laina paranoid.

The kingdoms had a treaty of course, but this did little to reassure Laina, having only recently taken the throne after the abrupt death of her mother. Even as her new husband trained even more soldiers, just in case, Laina was busy crafting a powerful weapon using an old family heirloom - a medallion - that she would soon pass down to her eldest daughter.

It would be a weapon with enough force to level mountains, strong enough to part seas, powerful enough to cause armageddon should it fall into the wrong hands.

It would be the greatest Xerin creation since the Ancient Ephedian Spell Book.

That had been a few years ago. Now, their army was back up to full capacity and Izira had mastered the use of the medallion.

Yet the tension that had sprouted from one marriage still continued and wrapped itself between the two kingdoms, the most recent incident opening a great chasm through the entire interkingdom relationship. It seemed ironic to try to fix it with yet another marriage or two - but that was exactly what the Queen of Runic was intending to do, while doing what was best for herself and her own kingdom of course.

Peace was beneficial to all kingdoms after all, so why shouldn't Acherontia try to resolve the lurking conflict before it even reared its ugly head?

And so while Talia nursed her mother back to full health, while Mephisto wrote his very first letter to Iris; Acherontia wrote one to the Queen of Ephedia, outlining (most of) her plan and including a short reminder to look out for the lonsdaleite around her kingdom as she hadn't been able to find it before she had left the party.

Both letters were sent off at the same time, and soon enough...

"Your Majesty, a letter for yourself… and another for Princess Iris."

The announcement came at breakfast. Iris' face lit up only for her to look back to her meal as her mother took both letters off the royal page, setting them down next to her plate.

Tapping her plate nervously, Iris pipped up, "Mother can I-"

"Not until I have read it," Xiphi said curtly. It wasn't that she was going to deny her daughter her correspondence, she just needed to check beforehand that the letter wasn't going to upset her, especially with recent events. Iris had told her many times that she was old enough to determine this herself, but Xiphi wouldn't hear of it.

For the rest of the morning, Iris wiggled her feet anxiously, occasionally stealing glances at her mother's face once the Queen finished her meal and began to read the one addressed to Iris.

Within seconds she scoffed, "Another love letter. Here, Dear, amuse yourself." She tossed it across the table to her daughter and turned to the second letter.

"Pah, 'marital unions', as if I don't have more pressing matters to deal wi…" Xiphi trailed off.

Jericho looked up from his third helping of breakfast and leaned over his wife's shoulder to sneak a look at the contents of the letter. Xiphi was reading through it as quickly as she could, her hopes for lasting peace growing more and more with each and every word.

If this worked…

"Iris, I need that letter back." Without pausing, Xiphi snatched it from her daughter.

"HEY! MOTHER!!" Iris' face flushed red. "I was- that's private now! Y-you can't-"

She waved her hand dismissively, "Oh I already read the embarrassing parts, Sweetie, don't worry. That's why I handed it over to you, I know you like that sort of sappy stuff."

"If I remember rightly, you did too once upon a time," Jericho put in with a grin.

"Shush you," Xiphi joked, jumping to the end of the letter. "As I thought. Iris, reply to this boy, make him fall in love with you."

Jericho snorted as he read the small poem Mephisto had written for Iris. "By the sounds of this he already has. Goodness, this is more flowery than anything I ever wrote for your mother. _Your eyes put the sky to shame_ // _the iris flowers feel blessed to_ -"

"JERICHO!"

"DAD!"

Xiphi rolled the letter up and bapped her husband on the head with it before finally handing it back to Iris.

"Mother… Don't I get a choice in this? I like Mephisto, I really do, but…"

"Then what's the issue hmm?"

Iris sighed heavily, "Why him. Of all the people that have sent me love letters, or even marriage proposals - why the Runic Prince?"

"He's powerful. He'll be able to protect the kingdom well. Plus," she admitted, "his mother gives a very convincing argument."

"He got his mother to help him?" Iris asked incredulously.

Xiphi shook her head. "She acted independently I believe. She sees the potential in this union as I now do. Not to mention this is only the first step to peace. Acherontia is a very smart woman," she tapped the Runic Queen's letter, "She has a plan to solve our little issues with Xeris."

Cryptic though that was, Iris chose to ignore it and moved back to the topic at hand. "Okay but," she fiddled with the letter, "I...I need more time to get to know Mephisto."

Xiphi sighed. "I wish time is something we had, Sweetheart, but we only have until the Xerins leave. I doubt Laina would be willing to let her daughter return anytime soon so we have to sort this out while she's still here."

"Is this about Talia?" Xiphi nodded. "Mother! I- I almost… you know what I almost did." She bowed her head in shame and twisted the letter in her hands. "Talia's been through enough."

"Which is exactly why she needs a distraction! You mentioned before she had a… what do you kids call it these days? A crush? On the Runic Princess. So you get the Prince to fall in love with you, the family visits us, the Princess meets Talia, and falls in love with her. We get a union between the three most powerful kingdoms on the planet, ours truly included of course. Problems solved."

Iris shook her head. "Mother, just because Dad fell in love with you at first sight, doesn't mean it'll be that way for everyone. These things take-"

"Time yes I know. We don't have any. What do you think, Jericho?"

The King swiftly hid a grimace and smiled at his wife. "Wonderful idea, my love. Though perhaps we _could_ give Iris a little more time, after all she does need to work on controlling her magic better. A union is all very well and good, but we need to ensure we don't have another… accident."

That was a very good point. "Very well." Xiphi turned to her daughter. "Two weeks."

Iris nodded. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was as much as she was going to get when war was just around the corner.

"If you have finished your meal, you can leave now, Iris." Xiphi said pointedly.

Knowing that look well, Iris rolled her eyes once her back was to her mother and left the dining hall, taking Mephisto's letter with her.

"MAKE SURE YOU REPLY TO MY FUTURE SON-IN-LAW."

"Will do, Mother!" Iris called back.

"ASK YOUR FATHER IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANY POETRY."

"I'm good!"

"JUST IN CASE!"

Iris was well down the hall by now, "I SAID I'M GOOD!"

As the doorman finally shut the door, Xiphi glanced back at Acherontia's letter. "Jericho, can you tell your guards to look out for a box of lonsdaleite. Apparently Ati misplaced it the other night. Well, she says it was stolen so that's a possibility too I suppose."

The King nodded then raised an eyebrow at his wife. "Ati?"

"What? She's going to become family. Besides," she picked up her letter and pointed out the p.p.s at the end. "See, she even suggested I refer to her as Ati."

Holding his hands up defensively, Jericho replied, "I'm just saying. Maybe don't get too chummy with her yet. It sounds like she's getting herself a pretty sweet deal: her son the future king of Ephedia, and one of the world's most powerful magic users the future queen consort of her own kingdom. Something doesn't seem right to me."

Xiphi shrugged. "Runics are power hungry, always have been. So long as this plan works, they can be in whatever position they want. Besides, we always have plan B."

Jericho looked around nervously, making sure no one was listening in. "I just hope you know what you're doing. He's our last resort and you know it. Who knows what would happen to our kingdom - to our planet - if we placed all our hopes in _him_. It would radically change everythi-"

"Don't you think I know that!" Xiphi snapped. "But if this fails… we might not have a choice. Either way, we keep Iris away from him at all costs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes. Him. :>


	5. Love Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Two weeks later I'm writing a letter nightly_

_Dear Princess Iris,_

Your eyes put the sky to shame,  
the iris flowers feel blessed to share your name,  
and although you may not feel the same  
dear Iris, will you be my dame?

_I know you're the Crown Princess so I hope I haven't offended you by referring to you as 'dame' but I needed it to rhyme. I really enjoyed our meeting, despite the unfortunate events that followed. I do hope you don't blame yourself for that, Mother was out of line bringing pure lonsdaleite to your coming of age ceremony. It was meant to be cut and polished in our kingdom and offered as a gift to your mother, the Queen, for her crown._

_But I digress. We shouldn't focus on the bad. I hope you're doing as well as you can be and that my little poem at least made you chuckle, if nothing else. It made Praxina snort and shake her head when she read it over my shoulder. She always does that. The reading over my shoulder part, not the snorting part. Though she does that too sometimes._

_I keep getting away from myself, sorry. Point is, I really like you Iris, and I'd be honoured if you'd reply to my poem/letter._

_Yours truly,_

_Mephisto, Prince of Runic._

 

_Dear Prince Mephisto,_

_I am not very good at poetry myself, but I am flattered by yours, slightly cheesy though it is. I too really enjoyed our meeting and chat. I admit, I have been struggling to not blame myself. Both my parents seem to, so why shouldn't I? My father insists I need more training and I must comply for he is right, I do indeed need to train more._

_The Xerin Queen is still in recovery, apparently there was a complication with the blood transfusion, so I have been comforting Talia as best I can. It is nice that she does not blame me in the slightest._

_Putting all that aside, I hope we can keep up a correspondence and am looking forward to your next letter with thrilling anticipation._

_Yours truly,_

_Iris, Princess of Ephedia._

_P.S. The lonsdaleite has yet to be found - I checked with my father just now. I am sure it would have been a powerful addition to my mother's crown, though I doubt she would accept it now. Bad karma and all that._

 

_Dear Princess Iris,_

Your letter makes my soul leap  
makes my heart beat.  
I see you in my dreams when I sleep  
my love is yours to keep.

_I'm sure your poetry is a beautiful as your voice, sweet Iris. Alas I shall not push you to divulge your literary talents unless you're ready to do so, but I hope you're ready for a poem from me every letter. Unless it bothers you, then I'll stop._

_Yes train more, but don't dwell on what went wrong. There's nothing you can do now except improve yourself and do better. That's what Father always says. Then again he also says that life is most enjoyable when you stop letting others tell you what to do, so take that with a grain of salt._

_I'm glad Talia is such a good friend to you. Listen to her, she speaks the truth. And I hope her mother fully recovers soon._

_Yours truly,_

_Prince Mephisto._

_P.S. Understandable regarding adding it to the crown. Mother is quite frantic since she has yet to find the gemstone. She has even sent letters to Volta, Calix and Borealis! No replies yet._

 

_Dear Prince Mephisto,_

_I am enthralled by each and every poem you write me, and maybe next time I shall try myself, but I assure you I cannot even dream of bettering yours. Please never stop writing your poetry; I do love it so. Which is perhaps not the only thing about you I am growing to love._

_Your father has good advice. I have been training every day almost without pause. It is quite tiring, but such is the mantle of a Crown Princess. As for his second piece of advice, it is one I should perhaps start taking to heart, or one I would like to rather. But alas a Princess' duty is to her people, so I am afraid that I must listen to the wishes of my kingdom first and foremost above my own._

_Oh, I promised Talia that I would mention in my next letter to you that she has taken an interest in your sister. She meant to talk to her herself, but alas what with the… unfortunate events that followed (as you so delicately put it a couple of letters back), it slipped from her mind._

_Yours,_

_Iris._

_P.S. Oh and please do keep me informed regarding the lonsdaleite. Auriana of Volta says she hasn't seen it around her kingdom._

 

_Dear Iris,_

Your heart is pure and true  
and mine belongs only to you.  
Until we meet again I will make it through  
if it's the last thing I do.

_A poem of yours would set my heart aflame and nourish my very soul. It would be an honour to receive such delicately chosen words from you. Regarding love, my poetry says it all, my dear. There are so many things I love about you, so many things I am still falling in love with, and I know I will never stop falling for you._

_Of course your kingdom is your priority, but surely there's still time to have to yourself between all the training and royal duties?_

_And yes I noticed Talia's interest in Prax, I tried telling her about it, but she just sighed and muttered 'yeah right'. I think she might need more proof, I shall try to drag her along next time we meet. Which I hope is soon._

_Your sign off made my heart jump and I can only curse myself for not being the first to sign off in such a manner._

_Yours,_

_Mephisto._

_P.S. Still no sign of the lonsdaleite. None of the other kingdoms have reported seeing it either, it seems to have disappeared into thin air. Father says to give it up as a bad job, but Mother is not so easily swayed._

 

_Dear Mephisto,_

_You think far too highly of me, my love. However, since you so desire it, I shall try my hand at poetry._

Eyes that feel like coming home,  
my heart yours and yours alone.  
This is a love I feel deep in my bones,  
nothing could be more set in stone.

_I hope this meets your expectations, though it is but a sham next to yours of course._

_Perhaps later on, once I have master control of my shanila power and reassured my people of the fact, maybe then I will have more time to myself. As it is, writing these letters is as much 'me time' as I get._

_Oh, the Xerin Queen is now awake, so I'm afraid I haven't been able to talk to Talia recently regarding meeting your sister, but I have been assured both royals will remain here for at least another three days or so. Perhaps you and your family could come visit Ephedia some time soon?_

_Yours,_

_Iris._

_P.S. I have told my father to increase searches for the lonsdaleite, both he and my mother are very determined to see it returned to its rightful owner._

 

_Dear Iris,_

You and your words flood my sense,  
your sentences leave me defenceless.  
You build me palaces out of prose  
you build me cathedrals

_Oh my darling Iris, your talent knows no bounds. A sham it could never be, not when crafted by your very own penmanship. My expectations have been met, surpassed, and all around decimated by your amazing poetry. I can only hope I can measure up to such succulent poetic words._

_I am sure you will grasp control of your shanila soon, especially when you are already so greatly talented. As it is, I am honoured that you would spend what little free time you get to yourself in order to write to me._

_However, three days seems very soon, two days by the time this reaches you. I am not sure if I could find a reasonable excuse to come and visit you. Of course, I personally do not require an excuse, but rather your kingdom does - I'm sure you know how difficult it is to enter your kingdom outside of celebrations, even as a fellow royal it is near on impossible without a suitable reason._

_Yours,_

_Mephisto._

_P.S. My family and I are most grateful. Thank you._

 

_Dear Mephisto,_

_I assure you I do not deserve such flattery, I merely spoke from the heart. Oh gosh if you could see my face now as I write this, and before as I read your letter._

_I was… unaware it was so difficult to enter my realm. It is something I shall bring up to the council in our next meeting. Even if they do not agree to changing the policy straight away, they will eventually, once I am Queen._

_For the time being however, what about a marriage proposal as a reason to visit my kingdom? Our love is true, you could put the idea of a union to my parents. They speak very fondly of you and constantly inquire about our letters. Bring Praxina if you do come to ask my mother for my hand in marriage, and of course, be ready to prove yourself. My mother is not an easy judge._

_Your future wife?,_

_Iris._

_P.S. I apologise if this is moving too quickly for you, but I long to have you in my arms again._

 

_Dear Iris,_

I can already see it now!  
An invitation to dance and a bow.  
You, my wife in my arms  
Me, your husband, fallen to your charms

_Marriage! Of course yes! Admittedly, this is moving rather quickly, but I am more than happy, my love. I have informed both my parents and we are making plans to visit you as soon as possible._

_Mother will be sending her own letter with full details, which should have already reached your kingdom by the time you are reading mine. Please do not reply to this letter as I shall be by your side shortly, thus your letter would arrive to an empty castle and what a waste of your sweet words that would be._

_My future wife! The words feel like music to my ears, apologies but I cannot stop gushing over the title._

_Your future husband,_

_Mephisto._

 

Iris sighed heavily and buried her face in her pillow, letter clutched in her hand.

"Oh, Amaru," she mumbled as she felt a weight settle onto her back, "what did I ever do to deserve the love of such an amazing prince."

Amaru purred comfortingly and nuzzled the back of Iris' head.

"I hate that I pushed for marriage so soon. But you know what my mother is like." Amaru made an understanding noise and hopped off Iris as she turned over and sat up, tugging her nightgown over her knees. "I only had three days left, what else was I going to do?"

The two weeks Iris had been given had been enough for Mephisto. But it was with a heavy heart that Iris ghosted her finger over the word 'husband'.

"I am not even sure I truly love him yet."


	6. Motherly Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Mephisto prepares to visit Ephedia, Praxina worries for the future of her kingdom - and her own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I see how much foreshadowing I can throw in until it becomes blindingly obvious

"This time tomorrow I'll be with my beloved!" Mephisto gushed, twirling around his sister's room.

Praxina, however, had her mind elsewhere. "Mhm," she replied automatically.

Mephisto continued on regardless, "With my dear Princess Iris!"

"Mhm."

"I just can't believe it!"

"Mhm."

"Can you believe it, Prax?"

"Mhm."

Mephisto squinted at his sister. "I'm going to tame a pyrolem and ride it naked through the desert," he proclaimed.

"Mhm."

"PRAXINA!!"

She blinked and finally focused on Mephisto, "The what what now?"

Mephisto groaned. "Ephedia. Iris. Proposal. Getting married!" He punctuated each word with a hand gesture. "Any of that ring a bell?"

"You lost me at Ephedia."

Yet another groan. "Praxina," he grabbed onto her shoulders so she couldn't ignore him this time. "We are all going to Ephedia-"

"We are already here, we live on Ephedia."

"You know what I mean," Mephisto said through gritted teeth. "Ephedia as in the capital of Ephedia, Ephedia! We are going there so I can ask Queen Xiphi for Princess Iris' hand in marriage."

Praxina rolled her eyes. "Yes I know that, I read your letter to her. But why is there a 'we'?"

"Well… Mother wants to look around for the lonsdaleite and also pick up on gossip, she says the capital is full of it. Father enjoys the change of scenery, plus the food there is to die for, especially the sizzled hurleybeast. And for you there's a um… well I think it'd be nice to have the support of my favourite sibling!"

"I am your _only_ sibling," Praxina muttered dryly.

"EXACTLY! So you have to come!" Mephisto wrapped his arm around his sister's neck smugly, sure he'd won.

Praxina shrugged him off, "No, it means I have to stay behind and watch over the kingdom."

"...Well that sounds dumb."

"No it doesn't!" Praxina began pacing her room. "Haven't you heard all the disputes that have been going on?" She began listing them off on her fingers. "Mother losing the lonsdaleite was not an accident, someone stole it. There's been an increase in the number of wild animals outside of the Voltan forests, most of them… altered. There's whispers in the mountains of danger; harsher, more unnatural weather in the south… Not to mention the Xerins are going to be on Ephedia's back about your precious Princess Iris' little stunt, whether or not that _was_ an accident."

"It was!" Mephisto insisted.

Praxina held her hands up, "Whatever you say. My point is, we cannot afford to leave our kingdom unattended. One of us must stay behind."

Mephisto couldn't argue with that logic, try as though he did for the next half hour.

Eventually Praxina had had enough and shoved him out into the hall with a: "I'm staying, and that's final! Now go, I need my beauty sleep!"

"I need my beauty sleep," Mephisto mocked as Praxina slammed the door. "Please, there aren't enough hours in the day." He scuffed the floor as he walked back to his room and mused to himself, " _What_ is Mother going to say about this?"

Next morning, he found out.

"Mephisto, do you have everything you need? Papi's staff? Your toothbrush? A change of underwear? We _are_ spending the night there after all you know, so you'll need to make sure you-"

A pained noise echoed in the courtyard, "Yes, Mother, I _know_. Also I'm eighty years old, I don't need you to remind me to grab my stuff."

"Very well," Ati conceded then looked around behind her son. "Where's Praxina?"

"...Well…"

Acherontia stopped dead, "Mephisto. Where is your sister?"

"Okay so…"

Mephisto began going over the previous night's conversation, explaining each and every detail. And as he did so, Ati's expression grew darker and darker.

"And then she just shut the door on me!"

Acherontia let out a heavy sigh. "Hugo, Darling, take Mephisto to the telepoint. I'll send Praxina on after you, don't leave until she gets there."

"Wait what about you?" Hugo asked, Acherontia's belongings gathered up on one shoulder.

"Oh I'll have to stay here, especially since we're already so short staffed as it is. Praxina makes an excellent point, we need at least one royal to stay here." She smiled softly. "She's acting exactly as I expect the future Queen of Runic to act, and as the current queen I am very proud. However, as her mother who wants to see her happily married, I am furious she's this smart. I will set her up with that Xerin Princess if it's the last thing I do."

As Ati turned her back to them with a flourish and began making her way back to the castle, her mouth drawn in a taut determined line, Hugo carefully put the contents of his arms onto the floor and exchanged a look with Mephisto.

"Though of course, take all that stuff back inside first. That's a dear," Acherontia called without turning around.

Hugo's mouth fell open. "But I just-" he stared down. "Oh bother..."

"It's okay Father, I got this." Light green magic surrounded each item, and with a click of Mephisto's fingers, they disappeared.

"Are they actually back in the castle?"

Mephisto shrugged. "Somewhere yeah," he scratched his head, "not sure where exactly."

One suitcase landed in front of Acherontia as she flounced through the castle doors. Without even missing a beat she glared at the offending item and stepped over it. "Those two will be the death of me," she muttered. "Now to find Praxi-"

She was interrupted by a loud crashing noise from above, followed by a distant but loud, "GAH! MEPHISTO I KNOW THAT WAS YOU!"

"Ah there she is."

Acherontia made her way upstairs, following her daughter's voice to the library as Praxina cursed Mephisto for dumping an entire box of choclers on her.

"Why did Mother even pack all these? I know she loves chocler bars, but seriously Mother?"

"Yes seriously, Praxina."

Praxina spun around, the magic around various packets failing as they fell onto the floor. "Mother! I did not see you there." She stretched her neck out to look behind her. "Is Mephisto there? I need to murder him a little bit."

"Oh you'll have your chance," Ati joked, plucking a chocler bar from the pile at Praxina's feet. "You're going with them." She bit into the chocler.

"I'm what? No, Mother, I cannot. Someone must stay-"

Ati waved her comment away as she munched her snack. After a few moments she finished and used her magic to teleport the rest back in the box, talking as she did so. "Your brother told me about what you said last night, and although your point is valid, you have to go. I'll be staying here instead."

Praxina groaned. "Why? I thought you wanted to look for the lonsdaleite."

"I do, but you need to get yourself out there."

Something clicked in Praxina's mind. "You've set me up haven't you? Mephisto started to say there was something for me in Ephedia, but it's _someone_. Isn't it, Mother?"

There was a pause, and then, "Have a chocler bar, dear."

"I KNEW IT!"

Ati sighed, "Yes fine. Just get yourself ready to go quickly."

"No, Mother. I have had it meeting random Princes and Dukes so you can marry me off. I am not interested."

"What about a Princess?"

Praxina faltered. "Well I mean… That certainly makes it a little more interesting."

Acherontia grinned smugly. "So?"

"Promise me you will let me take this at my own pace," Praxina said quietly. "I will talk to her, whoever she is, but promise me you will refrain from pushing me."

"Oh Praxina," Ati gently pulled her daughter into a hug. "Of course I won't push you."

There was a moment of silence as Praxina hugged Acherontia back. Her mother always gave the best hugs, rare though she gave them. It wasn't that Ati was an unloving mother, far from it, hugs just generally weren't her thing. The kids usually got them off Hugo.

Acherontia cleared her throat and pulled away. "Now then, time to get your stuff packed."

They walked together to Praxina's room, making small talk about this and that, Ati suggesting things her daughter should take. Eventually there was lull in the conversation, and Praxina decided to take the opportunity to ask her mother something that she had been thinking about for quite a while.

"Mother… When did you know Father was 'the one'."

Ati smiled, remembering the moment. "When he made me laugh so hard I started crying and  fell off the throne."

Praxina furrowed her brow. "That's it?"

"That's it." When Praxina still looked confused, Acherontia sighed and continued, "Your grandmother had people come to the castle to try to win my hand. Most of them offered me extravagant gifts - but as a princess I had no need for them. Others gave long romantic speeches, but their words were stale. And then your father sauntered over, a huge grin on his face, like he was actually happy to see me, unlike the rest. Before I could say anything, he tripped up on the carpet and hundreds of multi-coloured scarves fell out of his pockets. 'That was meant to be the grand finale' he had apologised and then scrambled to pick them all up. I had smiled and told him to continue…"

Acherontia told Praxina of the many tricks and jokes Hugo had thrown at her, each one delighting her more than the last.

"I knew a lot of magic of course, but your father showed me magic that didn't involve spells or circles or anything that I could see. And every mistake he made only endeared himself more to me. When he finished, he bowed, and I asked 'what about the scarves?' He simply pointed upwards and then I saw them. I don't know how, but he had somehow managed to get the scarves hung around the chandeliers high above the throne room, and, best of all, had spelt out a certain word that had me snickering like a schoolgirl."

Praxina smiled, "What word?"

"Now that would be telling," Ati said mischievously, "but it was a word that was completely unacceptable to hang in a throne room. And I loved it. My snicker turned to a laugh as I saw the court's outrage; and as my mother paled and flapped her arms about in a panic to get it down, I fell to the floor and doubled over, tears of joy running down my cheeks."

"Then what?"

"Then your father ran forwards to help me up and I kissed him then and there. Your grandmother never got over the fact that I married a Borealian court jester's nephew, even if he was a prince, but I refused any other suitors after that so she didn't have a choice."

Something still niggling at the back of her mind, Praxina asked, "If he was a prince, why was your mother so against the union?"

"Politics," Ati replied simply. "Generally Borealians and Runics do not get on. Generally most people tend to not look past the stereotypes." She rolled her eyes as she said this, then huffed good naturedly. "And you know, I didn't even know your father _was_ a prince until a few days later. He never presented himself as 'Prince Hugo of Borealis' just as 'Hugo', it wasn't until I asked about his family that it came out."

"Did it bother you? When you found out afterwards I mean," Praxina added.

"Of course not. I was already in love. I trusted he had a good reason for doing so, and he did, mainly the aforementioned politics."

Praxina nodded, trying to take in and process what her mother had told her, and pushed open the door to her room. Despite the amount of suitors Acherontia had pushed at both her children, she never forced them to interact past the initial introduction if they didn't wish to.

This explained why.

Because, at the end of the day, Acherontia knew what it was like to fall in love - she was still in love after all - and she knew how important it was to find someone you could trust, someone that made you laugh.

As Praxina collected up her belongings, magicking them into a case, Ati spoke up softly.

"Remember what I said Praxina. Your father helps me see the fun side of things, let's me be myself, and supports me through thick and thin. And he makes me laugh, makes me happy. He makes me want to make others happy. That's who you need to look for, for the person who makes you a better one." Gently, she brushed Praxina's hair out of her eyes. Understand?"

"Yeah, I do." And she really was starting to.


	7. Sweet Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Runics travel to Ephedia and Mephisto comes face to face a very distraught Iris.

It took a further half hour for Praxina to finally get going and even then they were held up a further five minutes as Hugo said goodbye to his wife. To do so he floated up into the air and shouted across the courtyard, "I LOVE YOU DARLING, STAY SAFE!!"

Acherontia called back, "I LOVE YOU TOO DEAR AND I WILL DON'T WORRY. COME BACK SOON!!"

"I WILL!"

"I'LL BE WAITING!"

"AND I'LL BE COUNTING EVERY-"

Praxina made a gagging noise. "IT'S ONLY TWO DAYS FATHER!" she shouted up. "CAN WE JUST GO ALREADY?"

Acherontia waved from the window and Hugo slowly floated to the ground, blowing kisses at her. Ati made a show of catching them and blowing her own back. The charade would have continued in a never ending loop had Praxina not grabbed her father's leg and pulled him down to the ground and towards Mephisto and her bag. "Let's go, Romeo."

"BYE, MOM!" Mephisto called, waving at Acherontia with a smile on his face.

"GOODBYE, DEAR! MAKE SURE YOU ARE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL TO THE EPHEDIAN QUEEN!" she reminded him, "THINK BEFORE YOU TALK!"

Mephisto laughed, "WILL DO, MOM!"

"AND PRAXINA! MAKE SURE YOU TALK TO-"

"THE YOUNG PRINCESS OF XERIS, YES I KNOW, I WILL!" Praxina promised, vowing to at least try as she'd said she would. She owed her mother that much; after all, she just wanted her to be happy like she was.

Acherontia grinned, though none could see it. "I LOVE YOU TWO, MY BABIES."

"MOTHER!!!" the twins whined at the same time, at eighty very much offended by being called 'babies'.

"MY BABIES!!!" she shouted loudly for all to hear. "I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!"

The twins hid their faces, they loved their mother but she embarrassed them so easily. Regardless, they finished off their farewells, each with an  _ I love you too, see you soon _ , with an additional one from Hugo. 

Then the three Runics stood in a circle holding hands, belongings in the middle, and activated their magic. In a flash of green and red, they were gone.

Ati watched as their magic glows faded away and absentmindedly twiddled with the heart locket around her neck. It had been a gift from the twins for her 120th, when they were thirty two years old. An engraving on the outside read:  _ Mother's Love Is the Heart of Our Family _ , and inside held a moving picture of the four of them together, smiling happily out of the locket. After a while, Mephisto and Hugo would giggle at each other as they pulled faces, then Praxina would roll her eyes, but join in, and Ati would laugh loudly at her family's antics. Then it looped around back to the start. 

Generally speaking, Acherontia was not the sentimental type, but this locket was one of her most prized possessions. Whenever she was apart from her children or Hugo, she'd look at the contents, listen to the young free laughter, and, more than likely, shed a tear.

They grew up so fast.

One last look to where her family had disappeared in a flash of green and red, and she turned her back on the telepoint. She had some business to deal with.

Another green and red flash and Hugo and the twins arrived in Ephedia where the sun was already slowly setting. They appeared just outside the gates, making the guards that stood watch there scream and jump out of their skin. They were evidently new to the job.

"Gentlemen," Hugo said pleasantly as his children snickered behind him.

The guards scrambled to stand up straight. "W-what is your business here?" they both asked at the same time, then frowned at each other.

Hugo raised his eyebrow. Definitely new.

"Prince Mephisto," he presented, gesturing for his son to step forwards. "Of the Runic royals, here to ask for Princess Iris' hand in marriage."

Once again, the guards shared a frown.

One opened her mouth, perhaps to deny them entry, but both were startled once again as Iris herself appeared out of seemingly nowhere in front of them. She'd been waiting for the Runic family to arrive whilst practising her invisibility spells - Ephedia's specialty. 

"Princess Iris, these three were-"

"MEPHISTO!!" she flung her arms around him, twirling him around so his back was to the guards. "Watch yourself," she muttered, her voice barely a whisper, "things have changed."

Giving her a quizzical side glance, Mephisto returned her hug. Behind Iris' back, Hugo gave his son a thumbs up, while Praxina raised an eyebrow at Mephisto's expression. He conveyed his cluelessness without speaking, earning him an eyeroll. _Of course he has no idea_ , Praxina thought, _typical_.

But before Mephisto could stick his tongue out at his sister, Iris pulled him back around and led him between the two still slightly nervous guards, through the gates of the castle.

Praxina sighed and, with a wave of her finger, levitated the cases through by her side.

Hugo followed shortly after, flicking a small gemstone up in the air for the guards to squabble over. "Here, get yourself something nice," he cheerily threw over his shoulder. "May I suggest a fresh pair of underwear to replace the ones you soiled when we arrived? Toodles!"

The guards stared at him, outraged, before eyeing each other up and diving for the gem.

Iris led the group through the castle, chatting here and there about where the amenities were, rushing slightly as she went. "The dining hall is to your right and breakfast is at 3am. Good luck catching it, I never do. But brunch is at 7am so we're good on that front. All main meals are spaced four hours apart actually, and there's often smaller ones in between; so if you're ever hungry, you won't be for long." 

Both Mephisto and Hugo were very glad to here this particular news.

"If you'll follow me up here, your rooms will be in the east wing. The west wing is out of bounds to everyone except my parents, the last person that tried to test that got thrown out that window," she pointed. "Luckily I learnt how to fly pretty early on in life."

The three Runics exchanged looks. The only place out of bounds in their castle was the kitchen to the two men, otherwise they'd eat them out of house and home.

Iris stopped in front of a double door and opened them. "Your room, my love." She pushed Mephisto through the doors and gestured at the room further down the hall and the one opposite it. "Praxina, yours is on this side; King Runic, yours on the opposite." She started to back into the room, closing the doors slowly as she went. "Get settled in and we'll see you for dinner in the dining hall at 7pm. Have fun, bye bye!"

The doors slammed shut, leaving father and daughter with many questions. Which they voiced at the same time.

"I guess they're not wasting time then."

"Something isn't quite right here-" Praxina's eyes went wide and she slowly turned to Hugo. "Father! Ew, gross. My room is right next door and- oh Melzors no." She shook the disturbing images from her head. "Just. No."

Hugo raised an eyebrow, "I meant getting to know one another face to face more."

"Oh." Praxina turned red. She promptly hurried to her room, quickly separating up their luggage and dumping it in front of each person's door. "Haha, so did I of course yes," she lied, fumbling with the door. "Well I think the Princess has an excellent point, time to get settle in." She finally got the door open. "Good bye Father," she said rather shrilly, "see you next year!" And with that she was gone.

Shaking his head, Hugo walked into his own room, actually taking his luggage with him into the room, unlike his two children.

As he turned to close the door, he noticed Praxina's arm snake out of her room to grab the one bag she'd brought. "Forgetful when stressed," he murmured to himself with a smile, "just like her mother."

Meanwhile, Mephisto's was still left untouched in front of his bedroom door.

On the other side however, the Runic Prince was hastily trying to calm Iris as she paced frantically.

"-gone missing and the council is questioning _me_ and I do not know what to do! I am meant to be the planet's Queen soon and I have no idea what I am doing or how things are going to turn out or-"

"Shuuush, it's okay, it's okay." He gently grabbed her shoulders and sat her down on the bed next to him. "Now, tell me again - _slowly_ \- what happened."

Iris nodded and twiddled her thumbs. "Javina, that is the Voltan Queen's sister. Her…" she frowned and tried to remember how many siblings Queen Emilia had. "I think her third sister? I am unclear on the number. But yes, Javina, she has gone missing. Just poof! Into thin air."

Mephisto put two and two together. "And the council expects you to find her."

"In a way… Or at least they want me to do it to prove myself, or to make up for the You Know What. However there are no clues, she was a delight to be around so no enemies, and the Voltans already looked around for her in their kingdom - Auriana is devastated, she was her favourite aunt. But, if you ask me, she probably got lost in the forest and was attacked by a pack of beezdingles; but I cannot say that of course."

"And Auriana is…?"

Iris blinked. "Oh. Of course, you do not know exactly. I mentioned her in my letter - Auriana - Queen Emilia's daughter, fourth in line, and she is also one of my best friends."

"Alongside Talia," Mephisto put in, happy to know this detail.

"Yes." At this Iris' eyes seemed to well up. "Talia, who is still nursing her mother because of what I did… Both of my best friends need me and," she sniffed as she felt a lump at her throat and tears finishing forming, "and there is nothing I can do." She broke down completely, crying into her hands until Mephisto pulled her towards him, letting her cry on his shirt. "I'm useless," she whimpered.

Mephisto gently lifted her chin up and wiped her eyes. "Hey… look at me. You are not useless. Whoever made you feel like that is wrong. They are wrong and I will put them right-"

Loud shouting outside the window cut him off.

"Here is your chance," Iris said dully, head dropping once more and letting her pink locks cover face.

Mephisto frowned and stood up, marching to the window and peeking out through the curtains. His features contorted to a snarl as he saw a group of Ephedians with torches and crystal weapons marching towards the castle, their eyes full of fury.

"Iris…" Mephisto said steadily, fists clenched, "why is there a mob outside?"

"They are early today…" was Iris' only reply.

Another glance showed they were heading for another part of the castle - the royal quarters. "What do they want? Why didn't you tell me about this in your letters? How often are they here?"

Iris took a deep breath and joined Mephisto at the window, staring out at the flickering fire meant to burn her. "They want the council to take away my right to the throne, they say I am a danger to everyone and thus should not be queen. I did not tell you because I knew you would act as such, I did not want to worry you." She turned her back on her people, her enemies. "And they are here every night, Mephisto, okay? Every. Single. Night."

Mephisto's heart broke as she began sobbing again and he rushed to take her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I do not know how much more of this I can take," she mumbled into his shirt. "Maybe they are right… maybe giving up the throne would be best for everyone."

"No," Mephisto said firmly. "They are not right." He swayed gently, stroking her hair. "You are a wonderful, sweet, and kind person. You've made mistakes, but then so does everyone else. I know you'll make an excellent queen, the best queen there's ever been."

Iris smiled sadly, "You know, some might see that as treason against my mother."

He pulled back to look at her. "I don't care." Then he lead Iris to the bed, gently sat her down, and walked back over to the window, opening it wide. "DID YOU HEAR THAT?" he shouted out to the crowd, drawing the attention of a few. "MY FUTURE WIFE IS GOING TO BE THE BEST QUEEN EVER, THE BEST QUEEN ON THE ENTIRETY OF EPHEDIA! AND IF YOU LOT CAN'T SEE THAT THEN I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!"

He slammed the window and curtains shut and nodded his head smugly, and Iris couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth.

How had she ever doubted her love for him?

"And you shall be the best king," she whispered, taking his hand as he joined her on the edge of the bed, "my future husband."

Mephisto's heart fluttered as it had when he'd written those same words in his letter and he placed a gentle kiss to her fingers. A tiny gasp from Iris and he kissed her wrist, then the inside of her elbow, her shoulder, her neck, her cheek…

Her lips.

The latter came oh so hesitantly and with a feather's pressure, just a mere brush of their lips, nothing more, nothing less. A ghost of a kiss.

Their first.

Iris sighed happily and leant her forehead against his, her thumb brushing his bottom lip as her hand cupped his face.

Mephisto leaned into her touch. "I've dreamt about this you know," he whispered, "kissing you, holding you close, loving you until my heart overflows."

Words failing her, Iris pressed her mouth against his once more, harder this time, her hand shifting behind his neck to grab his hair so she could pull him closer, moving her legs around so she was kneeling up on the bed, gaining a height advantage over Mephisto for once.

Testing the waters, Mephisto parted his lips and Iris followed suit.

Their kiss turned slowly and steady once again as they experimented and explored, finding out what worked for the both of them.

Breathing became heavy and lustful, and hands roamed sneakily.

Iris nipped at his lip and Mephisto felt a pleasant shiver run down his spine. With a low growl he picked Iris up and moved her further onto the bed, diving down after her and pressing his face against her neck, breathing her in and kissing from her ear to her collarbone leaving faintly cold patches of skin. Then he continued his path downwards.

It wasn't until Iris started moaning in pleasure that there was a knock on the wall behind the bed frame, quickly followed by: "YOU HAD BETTER NOT BE DOING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE DOING. NOT WHEN I AM _RIGHT HERE_."

Mephisto sighed heavily, hanging his head in annoyance. "Maybe try NOT LISTENING IN!"

"I HAVE. YOU DO NOT MAKE IT EASY."

Iris pulled away from Mephisto. "Maybe we should stop, we do not want to get ahead of ourselves after all."

"Very well," he conceded, sitting up away from Iris, then glared at the offending wall.

"Although…" she murmured, not quite ready to stop yet, "on the other hand we cou-" Iris didn't even get to finish her sentence before Mephisto was kissing her again, pinning her to the wall.

On the other side of it, Praxina was flushed beetroot red. The sibling embarrassment was big enough to overcome even her desire to be the one to make Iris moan like that.

A desire she pushed from her mind as soon as it reared its head.

 _Let it go, Praxina,_ she told herself sternly, pacing the room, _for Mephisto's sake let it go._

Eventually she couldn't stand to be alone with her thoughts or the noises from next door and went to knock on her father's door, checking to make sure he'd gotten settled in alright. After a few moments of silence, Praxina took it upon herself to open the door and raised her eyebrows at what she found. "Seriously, Father, already?"

Hugo was sat at the comically small vanity, tiny feather quill in hand and a piece of paper full of pretty cursive writing, _My Darling Queen Ati_ written lovingly at the very top.

He looked up at Praxina as she leant against the door frame, then looked back to his letter. "I miss her," he said quietly, pouting a little. "And your mother greatly enjoys my letters whenever we are apart I'll have you know."

Praxina shook her head, but she was smiling. Her parents were so lucky they had each other and loved each other as much as they did. Her mind drifted to the Xerin Princess she was meant to meet. "Father… do you know where the infirmary is here?" She shuffled her feet, "Or if the Xerins are still here? And stop grinning!" Praxina spluttered as she saw the corners of her father's mouth twitch.

"I'm not grinning!" he said, grinning. "I'm just happy you're making an attempt."

"I always make an attempt," she muttered.

Hugo pressed his lips together to stop himself from grinning anymore. "Usually not while blushing like a teenager," he quipped.

Praxina groaned and turned to face the door. "Father!!!" She began slowly banging her head against the door until Hugo stood up and gently pulled her around to face her, moving her hair out of her eyes.

"I'm just saying, it's nice to see you interested. But no, I do not know where the infirmary is. Ask Princess Iris."

"Iris is… busy doing something."

Hugo frowned. "Maybe ask your brother then?"

"That's who she's doing," she deadpanned, looking anywhere but her father.

Blinking rapidly, Hugo did a double take. Then, "Well that was fast." He nodded wisely, rubbing his chin and the tiny patch of green hair there. "I have taught him well."

"FATHER!"

"I guess we were both right, you did say-"

Praxina made a noise at the back of her throat. "Please do not tell me what I said. I… I shall have a wander round to find the infirmary. Continue with you sappy letter."

"No no," Hugo insisted, "I'll come with you."

And although she was very tempted to ask _must you?_ , she accepted his company and waited for him to roll his letter up and stick it underneath the bundle of clothes stacked in his suitcase. More than likely he wasn't going to unpack before they went back home.

As they left the room, Iris and Mephisto appeared across the hall; the latter picked up his case and went back in to drop it off, while the former ushered Praxina and her father over.

"There is to be a royal banquet in a few minutes," Iris informed them, subtly patting down her skirt, "the Queen has requested everyone be in attendance." She paused for a moment, then her eyes went wide. "My apologies, but I have only just realised. King Runic where-"

"Call me Hugo, Your Highness," he interjected, smiling warmly.

Iris nodded. "Then you can call me Iris." She cleared her throat. "But yes, exclude my obliviousness, but I have only just noticed the lack of Queen Acherontia. Is she arriving later? Tomorrow perhaps?"

Hugo peered at Mephisto as he rejoined the group. "You didn't tell her about your mother?"

"I uh, I got distracted."

"Ah." Hugo fought to hide his snicker, especially when Mephisto glared at Praxina, recognising the traitor immediately, furious she'd told their father.

But Iris was too focused to be embarrassed. Besides, they'd only kissed, despite what Praxina thought she'd heard. Well, mainly only kissed. Iris cleared her throat, stopping the silent conversation going on between the twins. "Acherontia has not gone missing, has she?"

"Oh no no, Mother is fine," Mephisto hurried to reassure her, knowing another missing royal was the last thing she needed. "No, she's just staying in Runic."

"Ah I see," Iris bit her lip. "That… complicates matters." She turned to Praxina, knowing what she was about to ask would be a lot, all things considered. But there was no other way. "You will have to officiate Mephisto's proposal in that case. Not the marriage," she hurriedly added, "my mother attends to that. But you will have to act in place of your mother when Mephisto puts his proposal forward to my mother."

Hugo furrowed his brow, "Are you sure I can't-"

Iris shook her head. "I am sorry Ki- Hugo. But it must be either the queen or her next in line."

"Very well," Praxina said gruffly, determined to be professional about this. She had stood in for her mother before for small things in her kingdom, she could do it again. This was practise for when she became queen after all, it would be useful for her.

Iris smiled in thanks, and Praxina cleared her throat. "Is there any chance we could visit the Xerin Princess after dinner?"

"Talia will be at dinner," Iris said slowly, "as well as Laina, the Xerin Queen."

And it was going to be awkward.


	8. High Expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Praxina finally get a chance to talk to Talia? And how far are Iris and Mephisto risking to go?

The silence filled up the room, the tension thick and heavy like a dense rain cloud that had yet to shed its weight. 

Xiphi sat at the head of the table, Jericho on one side, Iris on the other. And the Xerin Queen sat at the far other end of the table, a tired and worn out Talia by her side. The twins dithered over where to sit, Mephisto wondering if sitting next to Iris would be too bold, and Praxina wondering if sitting next to Talia would come off as her siding with them. Hugo just plonked himself down randomly and started tucking in as the Epehdians and Xerins were.

Eventually the twins settle for sitting in the middle of the table, Mephisto a little closer to Iris, opposite Hugo, and Praxina a little closer to Talia. This would have to do.

As soon as they sat down however, Iris shuffled a seat over to be next to Mephisto, grinning up at him and reaching for his hand under the table. It seemed Iris certainly didn't care about being subtle.

Nor did the Ephedian Queen from the slight head nod and smile she threw her daughter's way. Jericho rolled his eyes, but let it pass, not that he could do anything about it.

As they ate their meal, Talia kept sneaking glances at Praxina.

The Xerin Princess didn't know what it was about her, but she'd had eyes for the Runic heir since the start. Maybe it was the intelligence that shone in her eyes, as if they held the knowledge of the oceans as well as the colour. Maybe it was the fiery sheen of her hair that matched the determination in her eyes. Or maybe it was the raw power that she emitted, the smell almost sizzling in the air around her.

Whatever it was, Talia wanted it - wanted her.

But of course, surely the future ruler of Runic wouldn't even look twice at her, wouldn't consider her an option even.

For her part, Praxina was going over what she would say to the Xerin Princess if indeed she plucked up the courage to speak to her. Mephisto giggling and laughing with Iris every two seconds right in her ear was not helping matters either, so she jabbed his side 'accidentally' as she ate.

"Heeeey!" he muttered, turning his head.

Praxina shrugged, her mouth full, and stuck her elbows out again to cut up the hurleybeast steak. _Trust Iris to serve Mephisto's favourite food, either by coincidence or on purpose_ , she thought to herself angrily, not a fan of the fish but hungry enough to eat it.

A tiny dart of her eyes revealed Talia did in fact like the fish, daintily digging into it at lightning speed. Maybe she could talk about that?

Praxina cleared her throat and put her knife and fork down. She shifted her weight on the chair to turn slightly. All she had to do was... strike up a conversation. It was that easy, just ask her if she was enjoying the meal.

She opened her mouth-

And a loud burp rang out from across the table.

Praxina glared, outraged, at the guilty party - her father.

Hugo shrugged. "Excuse me, but that meal was quite delightful." Praxina glared some more, "What? I said excuse me."

Talia chuckled lightly. "Thank you, I am glad you liked the meal. I decided to make it to honour the Ephedian's for allowing us to stay here while my mother recovered," Talia said pleasantly, gesturing to Laina who grunted under her breath, making it clear she hadn't forgotten the reason _why_ she'd had to recover in the first place.

"Well it was very nice, Princess Talia," Hugo complimented her, motioning with his eyes at Praxina to carry on the conversation.

But the words stuck in her throat and she bowed her head down.

Talia bit her lip. Clearly Praxina hadn't liked the fish. She cursed herself silently, wishing she'd gone with the roasted saebira legs instead.

Neither spoke to each other for the rest of the meal, Praxina choosing to stay quiet, and Talia occasionally talking to her mother when spoken to. Hugo loudly began discussing fighting styles with Jericho, who looked rather taken aback, but engaged in conversation regardless. And Iris and Mephisto continued on in their own little bubble, even feeding each other pieces of dessert when that popped around. As for Xiphi, she silently observed.

Halfway through dessert, a page silently handed a scroll to the Ephedian Queen who read it quickly and then stood up, excusing herself. Her footsteps echoed off towards the west wing and Praxina frowned into her slice of forest gâteau, ears twitching at the noise. She'd been curious about what was up there since had glossed over it on their 'tour'.

The royals were hiding something up there; and if Praxina's guess was right, it was something dangerous. Something they didn't want anyone else to see - not even Iris.

Mephisto noticed it too and eyed the remaining Ephedians. "Am I allowed to ask where she's going or…"

"Family business," Jericho said curtly, turning back to his meal.

Iris could only offer a nervous shrug.

On the other end of the table Laina and Talia exchanged a look and went to push their chairs back.

Jericho cleared his throat at the noise. "Please, stay a while longer. How is Omar doing?"

"Worried sick," Laina said pointedly, continuing to stand up. "He cannot quite believe something as reckless and careless could occur under his cousin's watch. Apparently he used to think highly of you. If you will excuse me, I must go speak with him."

Hugo nodded wisely at this and pipped up. "Oh you've got one of those new age magic communicator thingies?"

Laina raised her eyebrow, pushing her chair in. "A Crystal Communicator," she drawled.

"Yeah that. Me and Ati tried it once and it was just weird to see each other through a screen like that and not be able to cuddle each other y'know? It's why we stick with letters."

"Fascinating."

Hugo very obviously missed the disinterest in her voice as he carried on. "Makes it more romantic, and it means we have something to look forward to when we get back, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his eyebrows as if the meaning of what he was saying wasn't already obvious.

"Father!" Praxina hissed, such jokes being commonplace in their household, but not at all suitable for the Ephedian dining table.

Laina left without another word, Talia following afterwards.

"Thanks for the meal again!" Hugo called after them, grinning like an idiot, and kicked Praxina under the table.

"Yes thank you!" she blurted out to Talia's retreating back.

The Xerin Princess turned back and smiled at her, nodding her head politely. _Why did she have to have such a pretty voice too_ , Talia thought dreamily, determined to go visit the Runic Princess later that night to introduce herself properly.

Praxina felt the blush creep onto her face at Talia's smile, gosh it was such a beautiful smile. Perhaps she _would_ make that visit down to the infirmary after all. Just to say hello of course.

"You're blushing~" Mephisto teased quietly, "Do I sense _two_ weddings?"

"No," Praxina snapped, blush still on her face. "One wedding and a funeral; yours." And with that she sent some magic red dust into his precious hair.

Mephisto yelped and pushed back away from the table, knocking his chair over and falling backwards with it, legs up in the air. He almost took the dining table cloth - and Iris - with him. As it was he only succeeded in knocking his own food off the table and onto his chest.

The commotion settled and Hugo and Jericho blinked from across the table.

"Hehe… kids, am I right?" Hugo tried to break the ice. From Jericho's icy glare, it was clear that he didn't expect children to behave in such a manner, especially grown children.

Iris quickly got Mephisto back on his feet and carefully magicked the food off his shirt.

"How's my hair?" Mephisto asked, priorities in order.

"It's fine," Iris giggled, brushing a hand through his hair to dislodge the red sparkles. "Perfect even."

Mephisto caught her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "Not as perfect as you." In response Iris pressed her lips to his, the bits of red magic fluttering down around them.

Praxina rolled her eyes. Everyday she was seeing more and more how 'perfect' these two saps were for each other.

Hugo merely smiled knowingly. He knew true love when he saw it.

Jericho cleared his throat and the couple broke apart, blushing heavily, but still held each other's hand. "I believe it is time to turn in for the night," the Ephedian King said standing up. "Iris, attend to your nightly duties and then go to bed, I shall see the Runics to their rooms." It was clear from his tone that, had he known what had happened earlier in Mephisto's room, he would have been seeing them out of the castle.

Despite marrying into the Ephedian line, Jericho was still very much a Xerin at heart. He knew his daughter's union with the Runic boy was necessary for his Kingdom, but he wanted traditions to be upheld to a certain degree.

Too bad Iris and Mephisto had already broken them.

Regardless, the Runic Prince reluctantly let go of his princess' hand, dragging out the distance between them as much as he possibly could first. Mephisto then followed Jericho and his sister and father out the dining room.

It was a good job he didn't look back, for Iris' face would have broken his heart.

She walked slowly to her room, dreading her so called 'nightly duties'. For a moment with Mephisto she had almost forgotten, for a moment she had almost thought everything was okay. The harsh glow that burned through the curtain in her room told her otherwise.

Smiling bravely, she flung them open along with the window and looked down at the angry mob there.

"Great people of Ephedia," Iris began slowly as they roared up at her, "rest assured your worries will be heard, however may I suggest perhaps voicing them-" she was cut off as a wastraberry hit her cheek.

"Ye can stick yer suggestion where the sun don't shine, princess," a voice called up, the last word spat out, chortles from the rest of the crowd following after.

Iris could cry if their insults weren't so childish. As it was she attempted to continue her previous statement. "Please, voice your woes face to face when my mother has the court in session. That way you can get your problems solved."

"Yer the problem though," they shouted.

"...Be that as it may, you will not achieve anything by screaming and shouting at me."

As if testing her patience, another wastraberry flew up, finding it's target in her hair. "I'd say we're achievin' sumthin', wun't you lads?" Another roar went up and Iris angrily slammed the window.

She flung herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow, trying to drown out the jeers from outside.

There was that much noise that she didn't even realise someone was knocking on her door until they knocked loud enough to shake the bed. Angry at being disturbed, she marched over to the door and swung it open. "WHAT?!?" she snapped, her tears clouding her vision.

"Iris?" a familiar voice spoke softly, gentle hands brushing away tears. "Oh Melzors Iris, what happened?"

"Mephisto?" Iris asked, recognising the voice but still crying too much to see him.

He quickly stepped into her room, closing the door behind him. "I'm here, pumpkin, I'm here." Mephisto took her in his arms and stroked her hair, hand stopping dead when he found the jam from the splattered wastraberry.

Hand shaking, he brought his hand into his line of sight and gritted his teeth together. "Who did this to you?" he asked, voice reminiscent of that that existed in another universe.

"It is not blood," Iris said hurriedly, lowering his hand. "It is just wastrajam."

"Who did this to you?" he repeated steadily.

Iris pointed to the window and Mephisto growled angrily and went to confront them, but Iris caught his arm. "If they see you in here, from _my_ window, it's only going to give them more fuel for their fire."

Mephisto had to admit she was right and slumped into a nearby chair, pulling Iris down with him and holding her on his lap.

Tucking her head under his chin, Iris rested her cheek against his chest. "How did you even get here?" she murmured, fingers tracing the snake on his shirt absentmindedly.

Shivering and shifting in his seat, Mephisto tried to focus on his words. "I uh… I teleported."

"Oh, that works. I cannot do that yet. I mean, I can teleport objects; but myself? Only when channeling my shanila." _Which I'm terrified of doing,_ she added to herself.

Mephisto nodded and stroked her hair gently, his other hand keeping a firm hold of her leg so she didn't fall off. Iris was very conscious of the latter hand, as well as where exactly she was sat. She considered moving to straddle him, to completely drown her misery in him, to fill herself with more than anger and self depreciation. But she just didn't have the energy to do so, not to mention they were still in her room. If they got caught…

"You should probably leave," she sighed unhappily.

At this Mephisto only hugged her tighter. "Never," he mumbled into her hair. "In fact…" Quick as a flash he teleported the pair into his room, setting Iris down on her feet. "There! Now you don't have to worry about those sacks of bar-"

"Mephisto."

"Sorry. They are though," he grumbled, wanting to confront them there and then.

Instead he walked over to the window and whispered a spell under his breath, the distant yells abruptly cutting off.

"Better?" he asked Iris.

She smiled in thanks and fell backwards onto the bed, sighing happily at how peacefully quiet it was. There was no mob outside yelling at her, no council questioning her, no parents telling her what to do.

She could have fallen asleep there and then. Except…

Iris bolted up on the bed, "I cannot stay here, if my father finds out-"

"It's okay, he won't," Mephisto hurried over and knelt in front of the bed, taking Iris' hands in his. "And I won't let you go back to that hellscape of a background noise you have going on in your room. Is there anyone that checks in on you at night usually?"

"No." Iris ran her thumbs over his. "The guards do not like getting near me anymore and my parents are usually busy with my-" she cut herself off abruptly and pulled her hands away.

Mephisto stopped himself from asking her to continue. Clearly it made her uncomfortable,so he wouldn't pry. But he suspected it had something to do with that forbidden west wing. "So they're busy," he changed the topic. "Means you can stay here with me. I'll set some pillows and the spare blanket up on the floor and-"

"Do not be silly," she chided him. "We can share the bed. If you are insistent I stay here."

"I am."

Iris rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, then thought for a moment. "Though I do not have a nightgown here… I would have to go back to my room and get one."

"I mean…" Mephisto said slyly, "Do you really need a nightgown?"

"Well of course I do! I cannot very well sleep in my dress now can I?" Iris pouted, patting down the wrinkles and creases her skirts had already amassed from earlier that day.

Mephisto almost snorted at her innocence. "That wasn't what I meant." He wiggled his eyebrow for good measure - one of his father's tricks, though he wouldn't admit it - to make sure his message got across this time.

And indeed it did. Iris bapped his shoulder in mock shock, giggling and bowing her head to kiss him. "I'm not sleeping naked, Mephisto," she said sweetly as their lips parted, eliciting an _aw_ from him, both at the comment and at the lack of her lips on his.

"I could give you my shirt instead?" he suggested, gesturing to the sleeveless one he wore.

"Tempting, tempting…" Iris teased, not as innocent as she seemed. "Though of course, you would have to take it off first, dear prince."

And it was off before she could blink. But blink she did after the fact. Many many times. And she found she wasn't nearly as tired as she'd previously thought.

"I uh, woah I um, didn't, you just… wow." She blabbered on a while longer while Mephisto merely stood there in front of her, smirk getting wider and wider. "Can I?" She stood up and pressed her hand against his pec. "Woah, nice."

At that Mephisto had to laugh. "I know I'm attractive, princess, but don't you think you're going over the top a little?"

Iris shook her head. "You are beautiful," she murmured, eyes lifting to meet his under heavy eyelashes. Her fingers drifted up his chest and around the back of his neck, settling into their new favourite spot at the nape of his neck. "So beautiful." The words were so soft, barely a breath as they washed over his lips.

What happened next was something that would definitely land Mephisto - and indeed the entire Runic family - on the denied entry list for the kingdom.

They didn't get too far, but it was enough to send their hearts racing, their blood pumping, and their breath come in short bursts. And it was certainly enough for them to comfortably sleep next to each other side by side.

Mephisto turned his back while Iris changed into his shirt, and she wrapped her arms around his waist when she'd done.

"Ready to sleep?" she whispered, leaving a kiss between his shoulder blades.

He hummed in agreement, sliding around slowly and brushing her hair away from her face, removing the last of the jam.

They nuzzled noses and then slipped into bed together, snuggling down under the covers.

Mephisto gulped as Iris got herself comfortable next to him, weaving her legs between his. It wouldn't be too bad if he still had his own covered, but it would seem he'd lost his pants somehow. What a shame.

"Is this okay?" Iris asked, feeling his increased heart rate.

Yes. Definitely. 100%. "I always appreciate nice legs," Mephisto replied, catching his tongue before he continued with _when do they open?_. He really was his father's son.

Iris giggled and placed her head on his chest, his arm going around her back and resting on her forearm. After a pause, Iris hitched her leg up to pull Mephisto closer to her, him helping her lift her leg without even thinking about it until his hand slipped up past the hem of his - now her - shirt and found-

"You're not wearing underwear…" Mephisto said slowly, hand froze on her hip.

Smirking into his chest, Iris replied, "Well your shirt is long enough to cover me. If it doesn't ride up," she added coyly.

"If," Mephisto repeated, voice slightly higher than usual.

Iris hummed under her breath, rocking her hips backwards and forwards ever so slightly. "So what do you think so far?"

"So far?"

"Of me," she replied simply. "Do I meet your expectations?"

Mephisto's hand explored rather friskly, nails digging in, as he bent his head down to her ear, voice low and sultry. "My Dear, you have far surpassed them."

"Then prove it." Her tone matched his perfectly.

Needless to say, they didn't get much sleep that night.

When they finally had their fill, they collapsed against each other, ready to drift off to sleep. Eyes closed and fingers laced together. They were so close to that blissful, satisfied, desire filled type of slumber - so so close - when the crystal lights suddenly snapped on and Praxina's looming features appeared over their headboard.

They barely muffled their screams in time.

"You're both going to be in serious trouble for this you know," Praxina declared, unperturbed.

Before the couple could answer, Hugo teleported in. "Don't be rude, butterfly. Leave them be," he scolded her. And with nothing more than that, he grabbed onto Praxina's arm and teleported away with her.

 _What the Klatznik_ , Iris mouthed, then turned the lights off again.

"Welcome to my family," Mephisto muttered back, groggily resting his forehead against the back of Iris' head.

Thankfully this time, they were allowed to sleep in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna take place between Iris and Mep uh 'not sleeping' and Praxina losing her patience with them, and should (hopefully) solely focus on Praxalia


	9. Passing Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talia and Praxina set off to talk to each other, but they have to find each other first.

As Mephisto had been comforting Iris that night, Talia had been attending to her mother.

"Thank goodness we are leaving tomorrow," Laina muttered as Talia worked her magic on her stomach. "I could not stand another day here, especially not now those dreadful unruly Runics have got here."

Talia stayed silent. She'd secretly been hoping to stay another day here, mainly, of course, because of one of those 'unruly' Runics in particular. However to say such a thing would arise suspicion, so she merely nodded and finished casting her spell, carefully regenerating the stomach tissue her mother had lost.

"That should finally be finished now. Izira did not tell me it would take this long."

"Doing it all at once takes it out of both of us sugar plum, it is best you took your time." She glanced down. "Leave the scar, Talia, it's evidence."

Her daughter raised an eyebrow, but lowered her hands. "Make sure you take-"

"My medicine, yes I know," Laina pointedly took the Zenbordian flower mixture off the infirmary nightstand and gulped it down. "I cannot believe the Ephedians refuse to let me take some back to Xeris with us, after all they did to us."

Once again, Talia bit her tongue. She knew that the flowers wouldn't last a second in the sea salt air of Xeris, nor would they thrive in the loose sand and rock they dubbed soil. That was the reason they hadn't been able to take the flowers back with them, not because Iris' family was being purposely rude. But Laina would not hear of it, so Talia did not say it.

Besides, there was something else on her mind.

"Are you going to be okay, mother? I need to get some… fresh air," she decided.

Laina waved her away. "Yes, yes, I shall be fine. Pick up some more flowers if you go into the garden and put them in your pocket."

"Mother!"

"What? I might need further healing when we get back to our kingdom, and I cannot have my body rejecting the cells now can I? So be a dear and get your mother some medicine."

Talia pursed her lips. "I am not stealing from the Ephedians. You do not need any further healing. And, on the slight chance you did, there are enough artificial cells in your body now for any new ones to be accepted freely enough." _I think_ , she added silently.

"Fine, fine. Go for your walk."

On a different level of the castle, Praxina too had gone for a walk. Though her reason was closer to a noise complaint than an actual desire to go anywhere. But while she had been driven from her room by her brother and Iris, she might as well make the most of it and go visit Talia and properly introduce herself.

It would just so happen that there were two sets of stairs, one at the far end of the halls that ran parallel above and below each other, and one closest to the centre of the castle.

Praxina, having no idea where the infirmary was, took the centre stairs down just as Talia popped up from the back stairs. It would seem the fates did not want them to meet, perhaps out of wisdom, because they knew how powerful they could be together. Runics always did have that dark magic streak running through their Kingdom's history after all, give them the knowledge of the Xerins and who knows what could happen.

Regardless, Praxina's heart was full of nothing but anticipation as she finally found the infirmary corridor after doubling back on herself.

The only issue now was finding the Xerin Queen's room…

"Can I help you?"

Praxina whirled around to find a young Ephedian nurse peering at her over his clipboard.

"Visitors are not meant to be down here this late, I hope you are aware." His voice was pleasant but there was an underlying of contempt - clearly he had no idea who Praxina was.

"Oh yes, sorry. I was just… I wanted to talk with the Xerin Princess and was told she'd be down here with her mother. Do you know where her room is?" She inquired hopefully. Maybe the no late visitors rule didn't apply since she wasn't actually visiting a patient.

The nurse sighed heavily and slowly went through his clipboard, turning the pages as loudly as he could. "I do," he finally admitted.

When he said no more, Praxina pursed her lips. "Can you tell me where her room is?"

"No."

Damn. She'd been afraid of that. Luckily, her mother had taught her a few tricks.

She sighed dramatically and turned around. "Such a shame, the Runic Queen isn't going to be happy about this."

The nurse squinted at her retreating figure. "Hang on a minute. The Runic Queen?"

"What was your name again?" Praxina asked, completely ignoring his question and being about as helpful to him as he had been to her.

The nurse paled. "H-henri," he stammered out, very nervous all of a sudden.

"Very well, I shall inform my mother of this. I'm sure the Runic Queen will have words with her Royal Majesty Queen Xiphi about your… behaviour towards a member of the royal Runic family." Praxina said sweetly, looking over her shoulder.

There was a choking sound and then the nurse ran up to Praxina, stopping her in her tracks. "Forgive me, Princess Praxina, I did not recog-"

"The Xerin Queen's room?"

He bowed. "Of course, right this way."

They walked for a while before arriving at one of the larger rooms near the end of the hall. Henri held open the door for her and bowed again, much lower this time, his clipboard almost touching the floor.

"I apologise for any-"

"That will be all Henri," she dismissed him, walking through the door without a backwards glance.

Now it was Praxina's turn to bow as she introduced herself to the Xerin Queen. "Your Majesty, I am sorry to disturb you at your time of rest, but I would like a word with your daughter, Princess Talia, if that is possible?"

"I am afraid you just missed her," Laina said without lifting her eyes from the book she was reading. "What is your business with her?"

Praxina blanked. "I um, I thought it might be nice to chat?"

The Xerin Queen laughed. "Chat?" Now she peered over the top of her book at the Runic Princess, judging her silently. She had to admit, Princess Praxina looked the part of future ruler at least. "My daughter is not the 'chatting' kind," Laina continued, "But, you can try, it might do her some good to talk to someone around her own age. She went for some fresh air, presumably to the gardens."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Laina inclined her head gently and returned to her book. It would seem the Princess took after her mother where her manners were concerned; there was hope for Runic yet.

Praxina was in fact doing a very good impression of her mother as she dithered around outside the door, mumbling to herself about which was the right way to the gardens. It wasn't like she could just teleport there either, not when she hadn't been there before or didn't know Talia's magic signature to lock onto - such were the rules of Runic teleportation.

Finally she threw her hands up in the air and flew off towards the centre of the castle. Hopefully there would be someone there to help her.

As for Talia, she had knocked on Iris' door for about ten minutes before giving up and attempting to find Praxina's room by herself. Walking down the hall there were certain noises that she couldn't help but notice as they got louder.

Her face flushed and she swiftly realised why there had been no answer at Iris' door.

She steeled herself and knocked on the door next to the source of the noise and, when there was no answer there either, moved across the hall and tried again.

This time the door opened, Hugo leaning down through the doorway. "Yes?"

"King Runic," Talia bowed briefly, "Do you know where I might find your daughter by any chance?"

Hugo grinned widely, then frowned. "Wait she's not in her room?"

Talia cleared her throat. "If her room is the one next to her brother's then I can understand why she might not be in there."

"Good point." Even Hugo had considered leaving the hall for a while if he was being perfectly honest. Not that he and his wife weren't guilty of clearing entire castle sections out in the past, but still. Speaking of his wife… "Do you know how I would get a letter posted around here?"

"I think the front gate guards handle outer kingdom mail."

Hugo rubbed his hands together and nipped back inside his room for a moment to grab a dark pink, almost red, envelope stamped with a green crystal sun. "This should be fun then."

"Wait, what about Princess Praxina?"

"Haven't the foggiest, Praxina tends to do her own thing most of the time." He scratched his head. "I can pass a message on to her if you want?"

Talia shook her head. "Thank you, but I do not think that will be necessary."

Hugo shrugged and teleported away, fully intending on scaring the shit out of the front guards once again as much as he possibly could. Ephedians were always so pent up, it was great fun to tease them.

Groaning to cover up another type of groan, Talia hurried back to the end of the hall and down the stairs. She might as well visit the gardens like her mother thought she was.

There was an alcove at the end of the infirmary hall and, from there, a shortcut to the gardens so patients always had quick access to fresh air and the nurses had access to the flowers and plants that made up most of their medicine.

Talia slipped through the door and settled herself down on one of the benches near the centre of the garden. The sound of the fountain there was a far cry from the gentle crashing waves of Talia's usual home kingdom soundscape, but it soothed her regardless. The night breeze carried some of the spray over and speckles of water fell onto Talia's legs as she swung them.

Her eyes drifted closed, the only sound that of the fountain now the mob from earlier had finally left, and Talia found herself drifting off to sleep…

Praxina turned a corner and came face to face with the central stairs once again and screamed silently, pulling at her hair. This was the fourth or fifth time by now, one more time and she was going to lose her mind.

"Are you okay?"

The Runic Princess whined loudly and turned around, not caring about being polite at this point and fed up with all things Ephedian. "Nooo! I'm _not_ okay! I've been walking around this klatzniking castle for at _least_ half an hour and I haven't got _anywhere_ !" Praxina finally focused on the speaker. "Who _are_ you anyway?"

"Ellira. Princess Iris' personal guard and advisor to the Queen."

"Oh. OH! I didn't mean to swear!" Praxina said hurriedly, eyes wide. "Please don't tell Queen Xiphi I said that about her castle! It's a lovely castle, beautiful! Absolutely stunning-"

Ellira chuckled, placing a hand on the Princess' shoulder. "I won't say a word," she promised.

"You won't?"

She shook her head. "Now, where are you trying to get?"

"The gardens…" Praxina gestured helplessly around the entrance hall. "I can't find the way out anywhere."

Ellira raised her eyebrows, dropped her arm from Praxina's shoulder and stepped aside to reveal a transparent crystal door that very clearly led to the gardens. "Did you try that one?"

"Ah." That was a no.

She chuckled good naturedly. "Don't worry about it." Ellira gestured with her head towards the door. "Go enjoy yourself, the gardens are beautiful at night."

Praxina smiled in thanks and turned around, looking back as she passed through the doors and wondering how on Ephedia she'd missed them. Then she saw where Ellira was headed and paled as she remembered the woman's role.

There was no doubt in Praxina's mind that Ellira was about to go check up on Iris.

The Runic Princess thought frantically before calling out to her, "Um, sorry, Ellira was it? You wouldn't happen to know where the uh…" she racked her brain trying to remember the name of _any_ Ephedian flower. "Zenbordian! Where the Zenbordian flowers are would you?" _Wait no,_ Praxina suddenly remembered, _those are Voltan. Klatznik!_

"Of course!" Ellira replied, hopping down from the steps. She reached the door and pointed out to the centre of the garden. "Right where that fountain is, there's a patch of them just off to the left."

"Oh." So they did have them. "Thank you very much, but uh-"

Praxina was saved from having to make yet another excuse to keep Ellira from discovering her brother and Iris by a loud shrieking noise at the front of the castle.

The Ephedian guard turned her head sharply towards the source of the noise, a puzzled look on her face. "What on- Apologies, Princess Praxina," she said, looking back, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to go deal with this."

As the distinctive laugh of Hugo filled the air, Praxina smiled widely, teeth gritted. "No, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Go, go." She slipped through the door, took in her surroundings, and then very quickly teleported to the front of the castle. "Father," she hissed as he found him slapping his knees in amusement in front of the passed out (more than likely from terror) guards, "Iris' personal guard is on her way. Keep her away from Iris and Mephisto."

Hugo tried to pull himself together, wiping away tears of joy from his eyes. "And why's that?" he got out between laughs.

Praxina gave him a pointed look.

"Ah, of course." He gave her a two fingered salute. "Will do."

With a roll of her eyes, Praxina was gone, teleporting back to the garden. She hoped her father would be responsible for once. Just because he and her mother didn't care about their own privacy didn't mean it would be okay for Iris and Mephisto to get caught in the act.

Enough about them though, she needed to find the Xerin Princess.

Of course she wouldn't be conveniently in sight, no that would make it too easy.

Praxina sighed and made her way down the steps into the outskirts of the garden, brushing her hands along the bushes, then gasping at the fireflies that burst free and scattered into the night.

She stared up in awe, not paying attention to where she was headed.

It was only when the rushing of the water snapped her back into the real world that Praxina blinked and realised she was in the middle of the garden.

And hadn't been looking for Talia. Klatznik.

She stood carefully on the edge of the fountain to get a better vantage point, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to herself by flying. There was no one wandering about about, no one smelling the flowers or dancing with the fireflies, no one. Praxina grumbled and jumped down, sitting on the edge of the fountain with her chin in her hands.

That was when she saw her. Sleeping on a bench, right in front of Praxina.

Pale blue-white hair darkened by nightfall spilling out onto the cobblestone floor, legs tucked under her, arms held close to her chest, lips parted ever so slightly, her breath clouding the air. She looked so kissable, so ethereal and beautiful.

Okay so maybe her mother was right about this one.

Praxina sighed dramatically, torn between wanting to wake Talia up with a kiss and not wake her up at all, to let her carry on sleeping soundly.

The Xerin Princess frowned in her sleep and curled up tighter. Praxina made her decision.

Talia felt something cozy and warm drift slowly across her body, covering her delicately. Her eyes fluttered open and she fumbled for - and caught - the Runic Princess' hand before she could teleport away.

"Please stay," she mumbled sleepily as soon as she recognised her, "I want to talk to you."

Praxina could only freeze in place and tried not to think about how perfect Talia's hand felt around hers. Long and calloused fingers tugging on her own, so different from Iris' soft and overly manicured ones, so comforting and warm.

Clumsily, Talia sat up, clutching onto the blanket Praxina had given her and shuffled over to one side of the bench. She pulled Praxina down next to her when she noticed the other Princess was still dithering, doing nothing except flexing her fingers ever so slightly in Talia's grip, but not unpleasantly so.

"I actually want to talk to you too-"

"Why were you going to leave without-"

Both girls stopped as they realised they were talking over each other and Praxina proceeded to stare down at their linked hands.

Following her gaze, Talia cleared her throat and hurriedly let go. She didn't want to make this weird before this even became a 'this'. _If_ this became a this after all, it wasn't like she could force the Princess to want this or to care about this or… She was putting far too much thought into this, as usual.

"So uh what did you want to talk about?" Praxina prompted tentatively.

"This," Talia replied, far too quickly. "I mean uh, I tried to find you earlier, talked to your father."

Praxina made a desperate noise at the back of her throat. "Oh no, what did he say to you. Please tell me he didn't try to pull one of his party tricks on you," she was panicking, knowing what her father was like, "or show you weird baby pictures of me, or anything else embarrassing like that."

Talia giggled. "No, your father was fine. He asked me where to send mail off to and had no idea where you were." She smirked ever so subtly. "Next time I see him however I shall ask him for those baby pictures."

"Do not," Praxina said curtly, "I hate them."

Not knowing what to say in response to this, Talia began twiddling her thumbs, staring off at the fountain. Why couldn't she just have a normal conversation with her? Why did she have to bring up something that was clearly embarrassing for her?

"Your mother did say you were not one for chatting," Praxina said tentatively, realising her own mistake and moving to get up. "Sorry for disturbing you, have a nice ev-"

"No, please, wait!" Talia had grabbed Praxina's hand again and let go just as quickly. "Sorry I keep doing that." Praxina sat back down and waited for Talia to continue. "I just… I want to get to know you - I do! But I'm not good with this sort of thing. Especially when I'm still worried about my mother."

Praxina nodded, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

Just because Talia had said she wanted to get to know her didn't mean it would be in the same way she wanted it to be. Klatznik, _Praxina_ didn't even know if she wanted to get to know her that way yet, her heart and mind still confused over Iris.

All she knew was that the Xerin Princess was pretty.

Really pretty.

"That's why I said the thing about asking for the baby pictures, to lighten the mood." Talia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't want to sound mean or anything."

"You didn't," Praxina said quickly, "I took it too personally. And I understand about you being worried. I know I would be too if anything happened to my mother." She didn't remember the incident of the Crystal Trials too clearly, just that there had been screaming and crying. And of course that lonsdaleite had been stolen moments later.

Talia, unfortunately, remembered it all too clearly.

Every glance at her mother was a reminder, every moment she got to herself filled with painful 'what ifs', even the Zenbordian flowers near the fountain reminded her of what her mother was still going through.

"Maybe I should take some…"

"Some what?"

Talia jumped slightly, unaware she'd said that outloud, "Um, nothing just, the Zenbordian flowers over there are really pretty and uh they're my mother's favourites and don't grow in Xeris and… oh who am I kidding," she leant back on the bench, drawing her legs up and folding the blanket around them. "The nurses here are using them for medicine for my mother, but they've said tonight is her last dosage and well… she thinks she needs more."

Praxina shrugged. "So take them."

"I… I couldn't do that… could I?" Talia bit her lip and Praxina quickly looked away before she started fantasising. "They'd have to be turned into medicine as soon as, and not to mention it would be too obvious if I-"

"Fine, I'll get them for you."

That's what people did right? Got flowers for the people they liked? Even if they were flowers that were going to be used in medicine.

Praxina strode over to the Zenbordian flower patch and, using very subtle magic, removed all the flowers from the soil, leaving the roots in place so new ones would grow. She gathered them together and batted the magic dust off. After a moment's hesitation, she tied them together with a red crystal bow. Because why not, right? She'd gotten this far.

"Here," Praxina thrust them into Talia's face, not looking at her. "I hope your mother gets better soon.

Talia's cheeks turned the same colour as the bow as she took the flowers, softly thanking Praxina, hiding her face behind the flowers. "I suppose I should get these back to her then, before they wilt and everything. Zenbordian flowers are very temperamental." She stood up so she was eye level with the other Princess.

Praxina nodded, silently cursing herself for being so rash. Now she wouldn't get to talk to Talia anymore. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Yes… Perhaps we can talk at breakfast?" Talia suggested.

"I'd like that, yes." Praxina smiled, finally making eye contact. Midnight met sunlight and suddenly there was no way to tear her eyes away.

There was no way Talia's eyes should be this bright at night, there was no way her soul should be this joyful or this illustrious after what she was going through. Any other would have caved and let their eyes become dull. But not Talia. Her eyes shone with hope and with… affection? Praxina didn't dare call it love so soon.

If her heart had been confused before, it sure wasn't now.

Praxina didn't even notice how she got closer to Talia, and the Xerin Princess was having the same trouble.

She was captivated by the shimmering stars in Praxina's eyes, made all the more dazzling and heavenly by the dark blue that surrounded them. She couldn't tell the difference between the Runic Princess' eyes and the sky above them, both promising freedom and wonder and something oh so otherworldly that Talia longed to try.

Another step closer and Talia could feel the warmth from Praxina's breath against her lips.

So tempting, ever so tempting.

Another step. Praxina could only think of Talia, could only imagine kissing her and running her fingers through her blue locks.

There was no one else in the world - in the universe.

"Princess Talia! Your mother needs you!"

Except there was.

The Princesses jumped apart, Praxina catching her fingers on the velvet of the petals and Talia clearing her throat and turning her attention towards the voice that had interrupted them. She carefully hid the flowers when she noticed it was one of the Ephedian nurses.

"Very well, I'll be there shortly!" she called up, waiting until the nurse left before she turned back around.

Praxina's eyes darted from eyes to lips then back to eyes. "You should go."

"I should, yes…" Talia carefully folded the blanket up neatly with magic and passed it back to Praxina. "Thank you for this," she began to make her way back towards the castle before she spun back around. "And thank you for the flowers! They will be very useful."

Nodding, Praxina didn't dare allow herself to speak, knowing she'd call the Princess back and kiss her on the spot.

What frightened her the most was that she knew Talia would kiss her back.

With a sigh Praxina magicked the blanket away and then teleported back to the guest hall, the noise from Mephisto's bedroom bringing her back to reality. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and knocked on her father's door, not blaming him for the music he was playing to drown them out.

The music cut out and Hugo finally opened the door, violin and bow in one hand, door handle gripped in the other. He looked more serious than usual.

Praxina remembered the little incident with the guards and figured she knew why.

"So, what happened with Iris' personal guard?" she asked as she walked into the room, Hugo stepping aside then closing the door after her.

Her father scuffed his foot on the floor, keeping his eyes cast down and not answering until he'd placed his musical instrument back in its case on the desk. "She made me apologise to the other guards."

Praxina suppressed a giggle, "And?"

"And made me 'donate' some gemstones  for the trouble I'd caused. Apparently the gem I gave them earlier didn't cover it." He frowned, upset at being told off. "But I managed to annoy her enough that she decided against following me up here, so those two lovebirds-" he jerked his thumb at the door- "are safe at least, like you asked."

"Did you get your letter sent off?"

Hugo squinted at her, "How did you know I was sending the letter off tonight?"

Praxina paled, remembering it had been Talia that told her this. "Well um, you  were writing it earlier and you know, you always send letters to Mother when either of you are away anyway. It's not wrong of me to assumed you'd send one off this time."

"Especially not if a certain Xerin Princess told you." Hugo nudged her shoulder playfully. "So, you talked to her. Did you kiss her too?"

"Ew, Father don't ask about my love life like that it's weird."

Hugo's mischievous sparkle had returned to his eyes, and he jumped at the chance to tease his daughter, "So you admit it's love then?"

"Noooo," she shoved him, "Daaaaaad, shut uuuup."

"Ooo, 'Dad'. I'm onto something here."

Praxina screamed silently and floated up into the air to get away.  It was a tactic Hugo himself tended to use when Acherontia asked him to do something - not that he wouldn't do the task, he just liked to mess around a little first, which Ati didn't necessarily mind. Hugo slowly slid sideways into frame, grinning stupidly, causing Praxina to huff and face the wall.

"C'mon, Prax," he said warmly, trying to put on a more serious tone and failing miserably. "As if it going to be weirder than what's going on across the hall."

That was true enough.

Praxina slowly floated back down, her arms crossed. "Fine. We talked, she joked about asking you for baby pictures-"

"I can do th-"

"Don't," Praxina warned. "Then uh… we kinda hit a wall, but we got the conversation going again," she continued hurried before her father could interject. "She talked about her mother, I stole some flowers from the garden for her."

Hugo laughed and hugged her tightly. "That's my girl," he said when he let her go.

Praxina smiled and fiddled with the petal she'd taken. "Mom was right, she picked a good one this time."

"Well your mother does have excellent taste in partners regardless," Hugo said with an air of importance as he stood tall and puffed his chest out, grinning. Praxina rolled her eyes and poked him in the stomach in retaliation.

"And no," Praxina finally answered, "we didn't kiss. Someone interrupted us."

Hugo knitted his eyebrows together, voice dangerously deep and missing its characteristic warmth. "I will find that person that interrupted you and make them wish they'd never-"

"Father, no," Praxina held her hands up in front of him to stop him. "It's okay…" Now it was Praxina's turn to cast her eyes down. "I kind of got overwhelmed by… well by everything, and wasn't really thinking straight-"

"I thought 'not straight' was the point," Hugo quipped, back to normal.

Praxina glared at him. " _The point_ , is that I think I want to take things slowly. So I'm grateful for the interruption in a way. I think."

Ironically, just as Hugo was about to reply, there was a very loud, very unwanted interruption from across the hall and Praxina swore she felt a vein pop in her forehead. Mephisto knew how to make a sound barrier, there was no need for them to have to suffer.

This was the final straw.

"I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind. Don't they know how reckless they're being?" she complained, storming off towards the door.

"Sweetheart, no, don't," Hugo caught her arm. "They'll stop now. Hopefully."

Praxina pursed her lips. "Fine."

As soon as Hugo let go she teleported out of the room. "I should have seen that coming," the Runic King muttered, teleporting after her by following her magic signature before she did something stupid. Evidently he didn't realise the irony in his intentions.

Luckily the only other stupidity to grace the night were the stupidly happy smiles both Praxina and Talia wore as they thought of each other and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chill chapter for a while :> and even this has an important plot point in it, if you know where to look :3


	10. Rude Awakenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris and Mephisto the morning after, and certain things are revealed over breakfast

Golden sunlight filters through the curtains and pales in comparison to the locks of hair strewn across Mephisto's body, the Princess they belong to breathing softly as he holds her close. Clumsy fingers brush tenderly against her cheek, rousing Iris from her sleep.

"Morning sleepyhead," he hums, kissing the top of her head.

Iris smiles and her eyelashes flutter open against his skin, so soft and gentle. Her own fingers trace the marks she's lovingly left on his body.

Her chest heaves as she takes a deep breath in, air from her lungs drifting out slowly and rippling the small scattering of burgundy hairs on Mephisto's chest. A pleasant breeze calling out to the morning and promising good fortune to the two sweethearts.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Iris ducks her head and presses a kiss to his jugular.

Mephisto stays silent and waits.

There's more kisses and then Iris pulls back, tucking the curtain of hair out of her eyes to gaze down at him-

She lets out an ear splitting scream and scrambles away for Mephisto's face is burnt to a crisp, with _her magic_ and _her crystals_ embedded deep into the charred flesh. Her eyes are squeezed shut but she can still see that awful image, the result of her volatile nature. Her mouth opens wide as she screams and gags and cries out and apologises - as if that can help.

Her body shakes, curled up into a ball, and now his hand is on her shoulder. "Iris… Iris…"

"IRIS!" Mephisto shook her, "Wake up you're scaring me!"

She gasped and shot up in bed, sweat pouring from every pore, tears streaming down her face, her nerves all over the place.

Mephisto followed her up, panic etched on his face. His perfectly undamaged face.

Iris shakily reached out and caressed his cheek. Smooth. Unburnt. She collapsed against his chest, sobbing gratefully and clutching at him. "It was just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare, it was just…"

"What was?" Mephisto asked gently, lifting her chin up and wiping away the tears.

She shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder again, and all Mephisto could do was stroke her hair and reassure her calmly, wanting to make everything right.

But he couldn't.

Not right away at least.

He held her for a while, until her hiccups stopped and her heart beat returned to normal.

"Want to talk about it?"

Iris shook her head then stopped and sighed. She knew she should, Mephisto needed to know the danger she posed to him. "I… I hurt you," she whispered slowly, "my magic… it got too powerful and you were exposed to it and…"

"And something happened to my face?" Mephisto guessed, remembering how she'd been shocked when she'd touched it.

She nodded. "And I am afraid that one day…" Iris looked up at him with tears brimming in her eyes once again, and Mephisto wished with all his heart that he could stop them from falling. "One day it might not be just a nightmare."

Mephisto held her close again, rocking her gently. "That won't happen," he reassured her.

This only made Iris cry harder.

"I'm like…" she tried to explain between sobs, "I'm like a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. One day, all this power inside me, all this energy… it's just going to…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word.

But Mephisto could. "Explode?"

Iris nodded sadly, eyes squeezing shut painfully as she fought the memories.

"Then I guess I just have to make sure I'm there to pick up the pieces," Mephisto said, leaning back so he could look her in the eyes.

But Iris shook her head and covered her face with her hands. "No, you don't understand," she muttered sadly, her words barely intelligible, "I'm afraid you won't be there to pick the pieces up because you'll be the pieces…"

The words rung heavy in the air until Mephisto laughed softly and peeled away her fingers. "Give me some credit," he joked, "I can take care of myself."

"Can you honestly tell me you can take me at my strongest?"

"I-" She had him there. Mephisto remembered how easily she'd shattered the lonsdaleite, how fearsome and deadly she'd looked when she used her shanila, and he shivered ever so slightly. "No," he said eventually. "But!" he firmly held onto her arms and locked eyes with her so she could see the honesty in them, "that just means I need to train harder. And we need to find you an outlet for your power."

Iris blinked. "An outlet?" She hadn't even considered that.

"Yeah like somewhere you can go and just, let it all out." He threw his arms around as if to demonstrate this and Iris found herself smiling. "Destroy some stuff no one cares about."

Her smile grew wider. Finally! Something that might actually work.

Then again there was her mother to deal with, and her father, not to mention An-

"You're still feeling upset huh?" Mephisto murmured, watching the features on her face twist. He interlaced their fingers and squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"A little. But I shouldn't be lumping all these worries on you! We're going to get married and-"

Mephisto kissed her nose, cutting her off. "And I'm marrying every single part of you. The love of my life _and_ the anxious princess who's trying to appease far too many people at once."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Iris melted into him, her face burrowed in his chest. It almost seemed like she lived there. Not that she minded.

"Hey, that's my line," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her safe.

Iris stayed in his embrace for as long as she dared, ever conscious of the time for Ellira would soon be around to her room to wake her up. But she didn't want this moment to end. She wanted to stay safe and warm with Mephisto, away from the people who cursed and swore at her, away from her parents who demanded so much from her, away from her duties and her frightening power. She felt at peace with Mephisto.

But he wouldn't be allowed to stay if they got caught like this so early on in their courtship.

Iris sighed heavily and moved away, stretching cat like. Mephisto shifted his gaze before he got any dirty ideas and moved to sit on the edge of his bed, tilting his head back when Iris wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck from behind.

"You should go back to your room," he said, smiling up at her as locks of hair fell around him, tickling him.

"I should," Iris agreed, not moving.

Mephisto chuckled and placed a kiss under her chin. "C'mon, Princess. You need to get dressed and I need my shirt back."

"Didn't you bring other ones?"

"I did, but that's one of my favourites," he grinned, already knowing where this was heading.

Iris grinned back cheekily. "Can I keep it?"

"You don't even need to ask."

She kissed him on the cheek with a giggle and swiveled around, pulling him up off the bed and leading him to the ensuite. "C'mon, shower time."

Mephisto wiggled his eyebrows. "Are things going to get steamy?"

"Maybe," she said with a wink.

They emerged half an hour later spic and span. Iris threw Mephisto's shirt back on until she could get to her room and lay on her stomach on the bed - legs up in the air - watching her husband-to-be get dressed for the day. He struck a pose for her and she laughed; Mephisto was so good at taking her mind off her troubles.

"Right c'mon, Pumpkin. Your turn." He gathered her up in his arms and teleported back to her room.

But too late.

"So that's where you were," Ellira said with her eyebrows raised.

"Uh…" Mephisto slowly lowered Iris to the floor as she tried to come up with an excuse. "You see um, this is not what it- Mephisto was helping me with the- you know the troubles I have been having with the common folk? With them, and one thing led to another and- not that anything really happened but I needed a nightgown so Mephisto lent me his shirt and… And… Yeah…"

The Ephedian woman sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "It's fine, I won't tell. Goodness knows I'd lose my job if I did." She glared at Mephisto. "But this isn't like you Princess Iris."

The young girl bowed her head. "I know. I do not know what came over me."

"Well…"

Iris dug her elbow into Mephisto's side. Now was not the time. "It will not happen again," she promised, stepping on Mephisto's foot when he began to complain.

"Just…" Ellira sighed again. "Just get dressed and go downstairs to breakfast. Prince Mephisto, we will meet you down there," she looked at him pointedly until he got the message and nodded, giving Iris a quick kiss on the cheek before teleporting downstairs.

Making her way to her dressing room, Iris disappeared through the doors, selecting an outfit for the day.

"Wait, don't you need a shower first?" Ellira asked.

Iris popped her head around the door, blushing, "Well um…"

Of course. Ellira rolled her eyes. "I see." There was a pause as she thought best how to put what she wanted to say.

On the one hand, it would probably do Iris good to, for lack of a better word, let some steam off from time to time; on the other, this was completely irresponsible of her and if her father found out - union agreement or no union agreement - the wedding would be called off.

Iris emerged from the walk in wardrobe wearing a light green summer dress, a pink ribbon tied around the middle, and rather tall wedge heels on her feet.

Ellira walked over and straightened the bow for her. "You need to be more careful Iris," she said kindly, "you know how traditional your father is. I know it's hard, you're in love, and well he is quite the catch. But you need to remember your duties to your kingdom and your people above all else." She held onto her shoulders. "That's why we train everyday, why we all expect nothing short of perfection from you. Especially while the Xerin Queen is still here."

"Is there somewhere I can go to like releases bursts of magic?" Iris asked all of a sudden, remembering what Mephisto had suggested.

"What?"

Iris gestured vaguely. "Y'know, so I have an outlet. A way to use up any excess magic."

"I thought you did that last night," Ellira muttered dryly.

Blushing furiously, Iris stood her ground. "Actual magic not… that. A place where I can go and like, destroy some stuff no one cares about," she repeated Mephisto's earlier words to her. "That way when I do need to use my shanila I'll have more practise at it and it'll be more concentrated."

That was actually a good point. Destroying things not so much, but letting Iris feel the full power of her shanila without any consequences? That would be ideal. "I shall speak to your mother about it."

Iris sighed, relieved and moved to leave her room.

"Before you go-" Iris turned on her heel, slightly exasperated- "your vernacular is slipping. Make sure you are formal at breakfast when you speak to your parents. This 'y'know' and 'like' isn't something you should be picking up from Prince Mephisto, watch your tongue."

A nod and she was finally allowed to leave.

Downstairs Mephisto and Praxina were already at breakfast - the only two there in fact. The dining table was laid out will all manner of fruits, oatmeal, whole grain bread - toasted and untoasted - porridge, yoghurts, parfait, natural juice, and other strangely healthy foods.

The twins pulled their faces.

Where were the pancakes? The waffles? The pastries? The meat???

How did these people live like this?

"Never fear! Chef Dad is here!" Hugo announced, flouncing into the dining room with trays of pastries on each arm. "Fresh from the oven to you. We've got all your home favourites, minus bacon," he glared back at the kitchen, deeply offended, "they don't have bacon."

The twins eagerly snatched rolls and sweet treats off the trays as Hugo pushed some fruit aside to put them down.

"Did you make all this this morning?" Praxina asked, buttering a roll.

Hugo grinned, "You betcha, anything for my kids. I figured they'd be into that whole healthy lifestyle nonsense from last night's dinner, so I got up early. Appreciate it," he said sternly, "you know how much I hate mornings."

They knew alright. It was a wonder they saw him before midday usually.

"Not to mention I didn't get much sleep last night so if I pass out in the middle of the day, you know why." He flopped down next to Mephisto and starting piling breakfast onto his plate.

Speaking of last night… Mephisto reached for one of the slightly less healthy looking yoghurts, already having eaten several hot crossed buns, and focused on mixing up the offending bits of fruit it in while he spoke up. "Father… did you by any chance start playing the violin late last night?"

"I had to," Hugo said solemnly, staring off wisely into the distance, one hand making a fist over his heart, "As a father it was my sworn duty to serenade you with the masterpiece that is B 52's Love Shack."

Praxina snickered under her breath while Mephisto groaned and attacked his yoghurt with a vengeance. "I knew it was that song," he muttered bitterly.

"You're welcome!" Hugo laughed and reached for yet another pastry, offering it to Mephisto. "Cinnamon rolls, great for the morning after."

Both twins groaned at this and Mephisto batted his hand and the offered treat away.

This particular pastry was a sort of inside joke within the Runic family due to a rather controversial incident that had happened a few years ago. It mainly involved Hugo, a novelty apron and not much else. Literally.

As such, Mephisto's reaction to the offering was common place, as well as his response of, "No, thank you, you put me off those for life."

"Same," Praxina curled her lip, "I still have nightmares. You scarred me."

This was the conversation Iris walked in on, but her face soon went from confused to amazed as she saw the vast array of rare pastries and cakes and all sorts of jam filled delights on the table. She made a shrill sort of gleeful sound and sat opposite Mephisto, dragging the tray across to her.

"What _is_ all this?" she asked, not even recognising some of it. "Did you go down to the baker's shop?"

"Nope, Father made it all," Mephisto said proudly.

Iris' jaw dropped. "No way! H-how? What spell did you use?"

Hugo's smile faltered slightly at the mention of magic, but it was soon back and he gestured to the small door off of the dining room. "You have a kitchen, that's all I need. I made them all from scratch."

"Even these?" she held up one of the cinnamon rolls.

Hugo nodded, trying not to laugh at Mephisto's outraged expression at her selection.

Oblivious to the inside joke, Iris bit into the pastry then squealed happily. "Ish so good!" she got out, reaching for a second one, swallowing what she had in her mouth before asking, "How exactly do you make these ones?"

"You don't want to know how he makes them, trust me." Mephisto dug in the bottom of the plastic pot for the last remnants of the yoghurt.

Snickering, Hugo elbowed his son. "You know how to make them, you should show her."

" _Nope_."

While Hugo laughed some more, Mephisto complained, and Iris sat there looking confused, Praxina noticed Talia wander into the room with her mother. Laina took one look at the scene before her and turned back around. But Talia stayed, dithering at the entrance.

She said something unintelligible to her mother and then, very determinedly, marched into the room and sat down opposite to Praxina, next to Iris.

"Good morning."

There was a chorus of 'morning's in reply, and Praxina smiled shyly. "Good morning."

Talia smiled back then cast her gaze across the selection of treats. "I do not even know what half of these pastries are," she declared with a nervous laugh.

Her smile now a genuine one, Praxina replied, "Don't worry, Father made them and he likes to experiment with recipes. Earth ones especially. Even I don't know what some of this stuff is." She shrugged and nibbled on a knotted thing.

"Well that one's a pretzel," Hugo put in, then returned to chowing down on his pile of food.

"Pretzel, interesting." Talia reached across just as Praxina passed her the tray, knocking it. "Oh sorry, you didn't have to-"

Praxina half dropped the tray. "I didn't mean to-"

They both laughed nervously and Talia quickly grabbed a pretzel and began nibbling on it so she wouldn't say anything else embarrassing.

 _Dear Melzors_ , Hugo thought to himself, _they're adorably perfect for each other._

"This is exquisite," Talia complimented Hugo.

"I do have a tendency to make exquisite things. Take Praxina for example, though her mother gave me a hand in making her. Obviously." As a blush rose on both the girls' faces, Hugo held his hands up, realising his mistake. "Sorry, inappropriate topic to discuss over breakfast. I'll shut up now."

Mephisto elbowed his father. "Aren't I exquisite?"

"Of course you are, but you already got laid," Hugo whispered, loudly enough for everyone to hear regardless.

There was silence and then Hugo stood up, scraping his chair back.

"I'll just… go. Have fun kids."

And with that he teleported back to his room with his plate of pastries. Acherontia was much better at this socialising lark than he was. Mainly because she didn't just say the first thing that popped into her head.

The silence was broken once again as Iris stood up "My mother and father already ate earlier I assume," she said quietly, thanking her lucky stars considering what the Runic King had just shared with the table. "Which means they should be expecting us, y'kn-" she scolded herself for her informal language and started again. "Waiting for myself and Mephisto in the lounge in order to exchange pleasantries, as I am sure you are aware." This last part was directed at Mephisto himself.

And judging from the way he stopped mid-lick with his nose in the clearly empty yoghurt pot, he was indeed, not aware.

"I shall brief you on the way," she muttered, gesturing for him to follow her, then turned back to Talia and Praxina. "Please keep what King Runic said to yourselves, I would not want to jeopardize the-"

"Don't worry," Talia smiled at her. "Your secret is safe with me."

Praxina just glared at her plate. "I already knew," she muttered dryly, "and believe me, I don't want anyone else to."

"Oh." Iris suddenly remembered how annoyed Praxina had been when she teleported in late last night and where her room was, and turned bright red. She grabbed Mephisto's hand and ran off towards the doors, slipping through one of them as a confused Mephisto waved good bye to Praxina and Talia.

"So what is this all about?" Mephisto asked. "Also, you're taller than usual," he looked down at her feet, ah-ing as he noticed her heels.

Her face still rather red, Iris mumbled her way through an explanation.

"Ah so it's just to get to know me as a person then. That's fine I can do that." He could pretend to not be weird for half an hour, no big deal. "I'm guessing the actual proposal is a bigger deal."

Iris nodded. "And… Praxina will have to be there for it." She pointedly looked away.

"Look I'm… I'm sorry about Father." Mephisto said in a hurry, "He kinda just says whatever he wants to say, doesn't really think about it."

"I noticed," Iris said through gritted teeth.

Mephisto squeezed her hand comfortingly. "We'll be more careful next time, I'll set up a sound barrier and-"

"Next time will be after our wedding," she muttered quietly, "I can't risk it."

"Oh. Okay." That was fine. He could wait. "Wait what about, y'know, dealing with those buffoons outside your window at night? Do you want me to-"

Iris shook her head. "No. And I don't know how I'll deal with them. But _I_ will deal with them. Somehow." She composed herself and patted down her skirt, checking for creases. "Let's do this." She turned to Mephisto and turned down his collar. "Keep your back straight, good posture, polite, formal language, and-" she stopped as Mephisto placed a hand on hers.

"We'll be fine. I can be formal." He bowed dramatically. "You shall see, Your Highness."

Smiling, Iris nodded. "Okay. Then let's go."

Without further ado, Mephisto offered her his arm and together they walked into the lounge.

Back in the dining hall, Praxina and Talia had managed to move onto small talk regarding kingdom affairs.

"…so my mother is going to see how well she copes with her duties when she gets back, if not it may mean crowning Izira earlier than expected. Which should be fine - she's married and little Mirza is six now, but of course it still has to go through the council, just like everything does."

Praxina nodded understandingly.

Acherontia enjoyed complaining about the Council of Queens as much as the next, and often did so within ear shot of the twins.

It wasn't that Ati disliked the other Queens themselves of course, she had in fact had a fling with one of the Calixian Queens back in the day before she got married. Or perhaps it was both, the twins had never really pressed for details. No, it was more the necessity of every little decision having to go through them.

"Iris has plans to remove the idea of central government you know," Talia continued, "so each individual Kingdom governs itself. Mother was slightly less against Iris when I told her."

"But what about all the Inter-Kingdom wars of old? Didn't they start because of other Kingdoms not being happy with the decisions of others?" As future Queen, Praxina knew her history and knew it well.

Talia nodded. "Yes, which is why Iris intends to set some ground rules with a Peace Treaty that all Kingdoms can agree on rather than checking each and every decision."

Praxina had to admit, that seemed like the obvious solution. "So why only now?"

"Iris is the first Ephedian in centuries to suggest such an idea, and has only done so to certain people like myself or Auriana of Volta. It's all very hush hush, even her own mother doesn't know. I'm trusting you to keep this to yourself."

"You trust me? A Runic?"

Despite herself, Talia smirked. "I've learnt you're not all that bad," she joked. "Besides, as the future Queen of Runic I think you deserve to know for when you eventually take the throne."

"Who else knows?" Praxina asked, adding sugar to a cup of coffee.

Talia thought for a moment and munched on a croissant. "Lyna of Borealis, future Queen. And she told Carissa of Calix… also future Queen. Goodness knows how they're going to sort that out." When Praxina looked confused, Talia clarified. "They're dating, but the Borealian Queen doesn't know. And since they're both heirs to their respective thrones…"

"They can't be together." The Runic Princess, of course, knew this. "They should break up sooner rather than later, save them all the heartache," she said, eyes cast down.

"Too late, it's already pretty serious. Carissa intends on letting her brother take the throne."

Praxina choked on her coffee.

Talia jumped in her seat and then leant across the table to pat Praxina on the back. "Are you okay?"

Waving her off, the Runic Princess nodded, grabbing a drink of water to sooth her throat. A male heir to the throne? It was unheard of. It was only a century or so ago that first born sons were… disposed of, so as to not shame the family. After all, first borns became the heirs, and only a woman could rule.

"How is a _Prince_ going to take the throne?" Praxina asked doubtfully. She herself didn't have a problem with it, it just seemed… strange.

Talia shrugged. "That's what they have to figure out. This is another reason why Iris wants each Kingdom to regain control of its own laws. The Calixian Queens are fine with this arrangement, physical strength is generally seen as more important than magic to a Calix anyway. That's why the Kingdom split over a thousand years ago creating-"

"Creating Runic." Praxina finished for her. "Twin sisters who both wanted the throne and so peacefully decided one would rule on top of the mountain with strength, and one would rule below it with power. I know."

Blushing, Talia bowed her head. "Of course you know. Sorry I just, I like to make sure I know as much as I can. I often forget myself when I get a chance to… well, show off I suppose."

Praxina smiled warmly and reached out across the table to squeeze Talia's hand reassuringly, thumb caressing the back of her hand ever so subtly. "I don't mind. I like how smart you are, it's one of the things I admire about you."

This only made Talia blush harder. The Runic Princess admired her?

With a start Praxina realised she'd left her hand on Talia's and cleared her throat, taking it back. "I think Iris and Mephisto will need me to give them the Runic Kingdom's blessings soon, or whatever it is I have to do."

"Yes, and I need to help my mother pack up her belongings."

"And the flowers."

Talia smiled. "And the flowers. Thank you again."

They stood up and awkwardly shook hands across the table. "I'll see you around, Princess." Talia could swear there was a flirtatious tone to her voice.

"See you around," she said, trying to imitate her tone of voice.

Praxina gave her a tilt of her head then teleported away, leaving Talia blinking at the red light and wishing she could have stayed longer.

As if she could hear her, Praxina teleported back in, appearing next to her this time rather than across the table. "I um, I forgot to give you something."

"What?"

Quick as a flash, Praxina pecked Talia's cheek then teleported a couple of feet away. "Write to me, okay?"

Talia nodded, dumbfounded.

As Praxina left once again, with a shy smile and a wave, Talia stroked her cheek softly. There were stars in her eyes, butterflies in her stomach, and, as she made her way to her mother's room, a skip in her step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised double angst but well it's already almost 5k and I hadn't even got to Mephisto's formal proposal to Iris in front of the Ephedian Queen so yeah. I needed to get that lore into the Praxalia convo. Oh also, that tense change is on purpose, just in case anyone was wondering.


	11. Ancient Traditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the young are faced with the ways of old, will they bow down and accept them, or rise above and change them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, sorry it's been a while, also this chapter is hella long. It was meant to be longer but I just, if I carried on it'd be 7k or something like that, so Imma have to split it.

"...great knowledge regarding Earth - arguably our closest alien relatives, at least in looks. And I have studied every spell book I have ever come across-"

Xiphi raised an eyebrow at Mephisto. "Even ones regarding dark magic?"

"Yes…" Mephisto said slowly. "In order to know how to defend myself and others against it, and so I know the signs of use should anyone try to break the no dark magic rule my grandmother implemented."

Iris breathed out a sigh of relief as her parents nodded, pleased with Mephisto's answer.

The four were seated around a coffee table, The Queen and King on one side, Iris and Mephisto on the other. They all had glasses of red vinum in hand except for Mephisto, whose was on the table, untouched.

They had been discussing Mephisto's interests, mainly in order to decide if he would be a good choice for Iris - and thus as the future King of Ephedia. Not that Xiphi would outright deny him her daughter's hand at this stage, but still, tradition was tradition. They needed to make sure he would pass the trials at the engagement ceremony.

And so far things were looking promising.

Xiphi and Jericho exchanged a look, the former nodded a moment later. "Very well, I am impressed, Prince Runic."

"Especially considering last night's meal," Jericho put in, earning him an elbow dig.

Mephisto's face flushed red, grateful they hadn't been present at breakfast and heard his father. "Yes sorry about that. Runic meals are less of a formal event and more a place to catch up with everyone, to chat and poke fun at each other and…" At this point Mephisto noticed he was babbling on and cleared his throat. "However, I can and will adjust to the lifestyle here so that will not be an issue." He silently cursed his sweet tooth.

"I should hope not," Jericho said sternly. "We do not tolerate such behavior."

Xiphi raised an eyebrow and silently took a sip of her vinum. She remembered certain shenanigans of her own that her husband had been fine with at the time.

Then again, Iris had changed everything.

Nowadays Jericho tended to stick to his Xerin ways, knowledge and training being the most important part of Iris' education, even if her main interest was in strategic management - a class she took with Ellira.

Xiphi finished her drink and placed the empty glass on the table, then stood up, tilting her head graciously at Mephisto. "This concludes our meeting, Prince Runic. The proposal ceremony will take place at one pm. Feel free to explore the grounds until then or take part in soldier training with my husband. I am sure he would appreciate your input regarding Runic based spells."

Jericho looked very much like he would not appreciate such input.

Mephisto stood up and bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty, but I need to talk to my sister and father regarding... certain matters." I.e. he needed to stop his father blabbing about the events of the previous night and tease Praxina until she told him what had happened with her and Talia after he'd left the dining hall. Two very conflicting 'matters'.

The Ephedian King breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly cleared his throat in a poor attempt to mask it.

Xiphi gestured to the door and Mephisto bowed once again and teleported away.

"I am not babysitting him when trying to train my army," Jericho said curtly. "Not until he learns how to behave like an adult."

"Father!"

"Jericho!"

He crossed his arms. "Did you not hear what happened at breakfast?" Iris stiffened, snatching Mephisto's untouched vinum and subtly downing it. "Apparently the entire family were eating sugary treats as a main meal! Like children who wake up before their parents." Oh good he didn't actually _hear_ what happened. Iris put the glass back, rather regretting drinking it all in one. Luckily, Jericho didn't even notice - he too busy complaining about Mephisto. "And just now!" he exclaimed, gesturing. "The door was _right there_. There was no need for his fancy shmancy Runic teleporting thing. Which I refuse to allow him to teach even the kitchen maid."

"The kitchen maid can't use magic, Darling," Xiphi pointed out.

"You know what I mean." He dragged his fingers down his face and turned to Iris. "Are you sure you want this one?"

Iris nodded. "He makes me happy."

A sigh. "Are you not happy regardless?" Jericho asked, confused. "You have everything you could ever wish for right here in the Kingdom."

"It is… not a point of that," Iris said slowly. "He gives good advice, and is an excellent listener, and…" _is good in bed_. Iris blushed at her own thoughts. "And knows how to help me forget my troubles. Anyway, my point is," she stood up and stared directly at her father. "He is the one."

"Fine, fine," Jericho helded his hands up and walked towards the door. "I know when I am beaten. I shall be training in the courtyard. Goodbye." The door slammed shut behind him and both women sighed.

Xiphi patted her daughter's arm. "He will come around eventually, Sweetheart. He is just worried." Iris shrugged, honestly not caring either way. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done something her father disapproved of. "For now, let us try to find you somewhere quiet and secluded to practise letting your shanila magic out."

Iris blinked, surprised. "Ellira told you Mephisto's suggestion?"

"Yes."

"And you think it is a good idea?"

"Yes," she smiled warmly. "And I think he is a good pick for you. His mother is a smart woman and she brought him up well. He will make a fine King for you." Iris beamed. "Once we iron out his flaws."

And there it was.

Iris' smiled dropped and she rolled her eyes. "People don't have to be perfect," she muttered, scuffing her heel on the floor.

Xiphi didn't hear her, she was too busy pulling Iris out of the room and down the hall.

"So where did you have in mind? The west wing?" Iris asked hopefully.

The Ephedian Queen laughed. "Goodness no! Do not be silly, Iris." They walked through door after door going deeper and deeper down into the castle.

"But there's an entire tower that's just empty I could-"

"No, Iris." The was no humour in her voice anymore. "Absolutely not. I am not risking it." And she flounced off, picking up the pace, Iris struggling to keep up.

Being around a foot and a half shorter didn't help, but then neither did the heels that brought that difference down to just a foot. She wobbled precariously down the many staircases they took, holding onto the wall for support.

"So where are we going?"

"The old arena," Xiphi said simply, now using her magic to light their way.

Iris paled and almost tripped down the last few stairs, catching herself with magic at the last minute; really she should have been using magic the entire way, but it wouldn't do to cause an accident in such a tight space, especially since they were now under the lake. Iris frowned in disgust at the moss and slime on the walls.

"S-surely there are better places?" she asked nervously, flying to catch up with her mother. "After all this is such a long way down and it is rather creepy down here and-"

"Oh for the last time, Iris!" Xiphi said angrily, whirling around on her. "It is not 'haunted by the ghosts of ancient gladiators'," she made quotation marks in the air. "It is simply a place we keep in memory of those who sacrificed themselves in such barbaric sport."

"A sport supported by the royals of their time," Iris muttered to herself, still not wanting to go there. Talia had very much assured her once that it was haunted, and Talia would know.

Luckily the Ephedian Queen was already making her way down the next flight of stairs. "The point of this, Iris, is that you can create as much of a mess of the place as you want. No one else comes down here and it's not like people actually keep a record of how much damage the warriors of old did to the place."

They stopped in front of an old oak door covered in dust and dried blood.

Xiphi held one of her hands out in front of her and formed a pointed crystal in the other. Then, without even so much as a flinch, she drew a careful line across her palm and called upon her magic, mixing her blood with it. As she pressed her palm to the door, she recited an ancient spell.

"Dulce et decorum est pro regnum mori."

Various runes on the door began to illuminate, casting an ominous pink glow over mother and daughter.

 _Of course it isn't haunted_ , Iris thought sarcastically to herself, trembling as the door shifted and dropped into the floor slowly. _Of course it isn't creepy to open a door with a blood sacrifice. Why would it be? It's only-_ She was violently torn from her thoughts as a skeleton sprang out at them both and Iris screamed loudly.

"Oh dear," Xiphi said very matter of factly, "looks like we left one in there. Ah well…" She shook her foot to get the skeleton off and allowed it to rest on the floor, stepping over it. "I'll make sure it gets a proper funeral later. Come along, Iris."

The Ephedian Princess clutched at her chest, trying to stop her heart from racing. There was no way she was going to be able to relax enough down here to let off steam.

"IRIS!" Xiphi called from the depths of the arena.

She shuddered and plucked up the courage to step over the skeleton, very very carefully keeping her eyes squeezed shut so she didn't have to look at it. Her legs trembled and fingers twitched something terrible.

It was no surprise that she screamed when she felt a cold clammy hand on her shoulder.

On a very different level of the castle, Mephisto had cornered his sister and was teasing her relentlessly about Talia.

"Just tell me… pleeeeease?"

"No." Praxina continued to read over the scroll handed to her by a page regarding her role as stand in Runic Queen for her brother's proposal.

Mephisto leant against her. "C'mon you know where I'm at with my relationship with Iris."

"All too well," she muttered.

"Exactly!" He threw his hands up in the air. "So it's only fair that I know where you're up to with Talia. Have you kissed her yet?"

Praxina flew up into the air, causing Mephisto to stumble for a moment as his backrest was removed. Ignoring his complaints, she sat herself down in midair, scroll still touching the floor due to its length and sighed heavily. "Let it go, Mephisto."

Lazily, he floated up horizontally so he was eye level with his sister. "Give me the gossip."

"You sound like Mother. Melzors that is not a conversation I'm looking forward to," Praxina whined as she realised Ati would be even more persistent in wanting to know everything.

"Praxxy Flaxxy…"

Her head jolted up from the parchment to glare at her brother. "Do not call me that."

"Call you what Praxxy Flaxxy?"

The scroll was dropped faster than Mephisto could blink and Praxina hurled herself at him, sending Mephisto shrieking and spinning through the air.

Her fingers found his sides and she began to tickle him mercilessly.

"Nuuuu," Mephisto laughed, pushing her away, "the Great Praxxy Flaxxy is trying to defeat me!" He magicked a pillow from the bed into his hand. "But Mephisto the Magnificent returns with a backhand!" He bapped her across the face with it and she tumbled backwards, grabbing her own pillow.

"Oh it's on!"

The pillow fight lasted for a while, neither twin giving in and each having more than enough energy and magic to be a good match for the other.

Across the hall in his room Hugo frowned upon hearing the ruckus. It took him a second to teleport into the middle of the twins' battle, and another second to grin, pick up a pillow of his own and join in.

It would be just the Runic's family luck for a very formal looking Ephedian to step through the door just as one of the pillows burst, scattering feathers everywhere.

The twins hid their pillows behind the back as the contents of Hugo's floated to the floor.

"Uh…" Hugo coughed up a feather, "Wow it uh, it must be bird hunting season huh? Those damn Calixians," he shook his fist in mock anger and slowly floated back to solid ground, sweeping the now empty pillow case under his cape.

Still in the air, the twins snickered.

"Yes very good, King Runic," the Ephedian drawled, almost sarcastically. Then he directed his attention to the ceiling. "Princess Praxina? May I have a word?"

"Oh!" She dropped to the floor, "Of course yeah, what is- I mean uh, how can I help you?"

If there had been a camera to stare at off in the distance, the Ephedian would have done so. He gestured to the scroll sitting on Praxina's desks. It, along with everything else in the room, was covered in feathers. "I hope you have finished reading and memorizing the ceremonial speech. You have, have you not?"

"Yes?" Praxina tried, knowing full well she hadn't. She side-eyed Mephisto as he eventually floated down to the ground. "But… Oh the sliiiiight off-chance I haven't… how long until the ceremony?"

The Ephedian sighed and muttered something about not being paid enough. "I shall let the Queen know you need more time."

He left before Praxina could protest.

"Oops… We should have brought your mother," Hugo acknowledged, knowing full well he wouldn't have messed up so many times had his wife been here. Mainly because they would have been busy in the bedroom, but that was besides the point.

Praxina sighed, "Okay, both of you, out." The two men shared a look and opened their mouths to talk. "And don't you dare-"

"Yes, Mom."

"I hate you both," she deadpanned.

Father and son left, giggling stupidly, and Praxina slammed the door behind them, but she was smiling. Her expression grew more serious as she dusted the feathers off the parchment and squinted at it. "You and me have a date," she told the scroll, then flopped onto her bed and settled down to read through it.

The Ephedian man that had interrupted them searched all over the castle to find the Queen and, failing to do so, sighed and made his way to the courtyard to pass the information onto the King instead. It wasn't ideal, but at least then _someone_ in the royal family would know.

Jericho was in fact pleased to hear this news, though he tried to hide it. "Oh nooo, now we shall have to put off the proposal ceremony, perhaps until spring next year."

"I do not believe that will be necessary, your Majesty. Until later on today perhaps, yes."

"Just my luck…" he muttered under his breath. Jericho realised with a start this meant Mephisto would need entertaining for longer. "Wait… is the young Runic Prince occupied at the moment?"

The other man had no clue, and said as much.

Jericho nodded then turned to his soldiers. "Right, we need to get these drills finished as soon as possible people, let's move it."

Some of the guards snickered, finding their King's disapproval of Mephisto to be hilarious.

This was of course met with a glare from Jericho. "Since some of you find this oh so amusing, you can all give me fifty push ups, stat. And no magic." They were lucky he was rushing them, usually it would have been two hundred push-ups.

Regardless of this, they still all grumbled as they dropped to the floor.

Hopefully this Runic Prince the Princess would be marrying wouldn't be as strict as their current general - as it was they preferred it when the lieutenant general ran drills, but she wasn't around at the moment. Ellira would be more than likely fulfilling her double duties as Iris' personal guard.

And indeed she was.

Though right now she was doing a better job of scaring the Princess out of her skin. Then again their surroundings back down in the underbelly of the Ephedian lake were not helping.

"Sorry, Iris," Ellira said good naturedly as the echo of Iris' scream faded. "I was checking the damp on the walls on my way down here," she explained away the odd claminess of her hand. "We probably need to get some of the walls repaired sometime this century."

Iris was still too shocked to reply and simply gestured at the skeleton under their feet.

"Oh," she looked back up at Iris and felt her own hands, "aaah." 

Now she understood.

"ELLIRA!" the Ephedian Queen's voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the darkness, making Iris jump once again. "IS THAT YOU? I NEED YOU IN HERE."

The Ephedian woman chuckled. "Come along, Iris, let's go see what your mother wants."

Together the pair walked along a corridor and then through another door - this one perfectly normal and opening regardless of a blood offering. As soon as they stepped through the door they were met with a spectacular sight.

It was easy to see how the arena had once been grand and revered as the height of ancient Ephedian tradition. Pink flames - Xiphi's - flickered brightly in pools of clear shimmering crystal; the stands rising taller than the light could reach, rows and rows of benches that would have been packed full of Ephedians back in the day. Huge granite pillars stretched up into the depths of the ceiling, most of them badly damaged, but still standing. The arena itself was perfectly circular, the ground covered in pale pink sand, various faded crystals sprouting up from corners, and pools of dried brown blood.

It would have been beautiful if not for the horrors it had seen.

"This is where you expect me to train?" Iris whispered, her tone of voice matching the setting perfectly.

The Ephedian Queen shot some more light off high up into the stands, revealing some of the more expensive seats, which were larger and separated from the rest of the stands by grand curtains and fierce looking statues - these also had pillars sprouting up to support the ceiling.

"I do not see why not," Xiphi said pleasantly, "we can make it look nice for you."

"It's not how it looks, Mother…" Iris said slowly, eyes darting around carefully. "It's how it feels. Can't you feel it?"

Ellira cocked her head, her own 6th sense telling her something was amiss too.

"Oh nonsense," Xiphi waved away her concern. "It's perfectly fine here. No one's been down here since ancient times - the skeleton was proof enough of that."

"I suppose so," Iris conceded, still not happy.

The Queen walked over to her daughter and took her by the shoulders, bringing her further into the arena. "This place has seen more damage than the Runic reputation, Sweetie. It's the best place for you to let your magic loose."

Iris nodded.

"So it's sorted then? Excellent," she patted her daughter's head, "Ellira will stay down here with you, and I shall go organise aspects of the proposal. Oooh it's going to be such fun, just you wait and see, Iris. We'll make him into a fine King for you."

Iris watched her mother go, the words: "but he already is" on her lips. But it was too late for Xiphi to hear her. Not too late for Ellira however.

"I know," she said kindly, "but you know what your parents are like."

The Princess nodded sadly.

"Cheer up, Flower, let's see what sort of power you are capable of, hmm?"

The pair trained for the next few hours, Iris soon consciously forgetting about the eerie vibes the place was giving her, though that reluctance still lingered at the back of her mind. By the end of the training session, Iris had managed to wear herself out almost completely - a rare feat - and had also added a wild variety of new pink crystals to the arena floor and sides.

"OKAY IRIS, ONE LAST TIME!" Ellira called from one of the posher stands, "CONCENTRATE YOUR POWER AND TAKE OUT ALL THE CRYSTALS AROUND YOU IN ONE."

Iris, in her Shanila form, closed her eyes, building up the last dregs of her power.

The sand beneath her feet swirled up with her as she left the floor, the air around her person began to tremble with the raw power, and electricity sparked all around her. Her eyelids slid open and a shockwave exploded outwards, taking out each and every crystal it met, even those solidified by time.

Exhausted, she dropped to the ground.

"WELL DONE!" Ellira cheered from the stands, jumping down to get to her. "That was- IRIS, LOOK OUT!"

The call came as one of the pillars around the main part of the arena started to tip towards Iris and the ceiling above them rumbled, pieces of rock falling down. Ellira threw herself at Iris, knocking her out of the way, then caught the pillar in magic, sending it shoot straight back to its true position and sealing the cracks and breaking points with her own crystal magic.

"Are you alright, Iris?" Ellira asked with concern as she rushed over to the girl.

Iris shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I almost got us killed," she whispered, "I… all these warrior before me couldn't break any of these pillars throughout centuries. And in one day I just-" she hugged her legs to her chest comfortingly, leaning into Ellira when the woman crawled over to her.

"Shush, it's okay, Flower. Back in the day magic wasn't as strong as it is now. Of course you're bound to be able to do more damage. It's not just you, it's all Ephedians."

"It _is_ just me," Iris insisted, unconvinced.

Ellira raised her eyebrows then promptly shot a strong blast of magic into the stands, blowing up the marble benches and steps the benches were set on. "Does that look like it's just you?" Ellira asked with a knowing, but now tired, smile.

"...Well…" Iris had to admit the older woman had been able to do quite a lot of damage with just the one shot of magic.

"Come on," Ellira stood up with some difficulty, taking Iris' hand when the Princess offered it.

They hurried out of the arena, sealing the door with another smear of blood - Iris donating it this time, despite Ellira's protests - and then made their way back up to civilisation.

Up in the castle, Praxina had finally managed to remember the scrolls. A lot of it came down to presenting Mephisto as a suitable heir to the throne, blanks in the scroll allowing her to include her own words. It took all Praxina's self control to not include the word 'dumbass' since she was meant to be being grown up about this. No doubt Acherontia would have gone on and on for hours about her son, but Praxina was keeping it short and sweet. Or, well, as sweet as she could.

Despite Jericho's concerns, Mephisto was in fact behaving himself - he wasn't as bad as his father, however much the Ephedian King liked to believe that. Mephisto had even had words with Hugo to make sure he stayed mostly silent throughout the proceedings.

"Can I whoop when you kiss Iris?" Hugo had asked.

In response, Mephisto had facepalmed. "Father no, it's not the wedding, just the formal proposal."

"So, no kiss?" Hugo asked, disappointed.

" _Father!_ You need to-" But what Hugo needed to do would never be said as there was a knock on the door, the same formal Ephedian from before walking in.

He cleared his throat and stepped to the side of the door. "The ceremony will begin shortly."

Mephisto exchanged a nervous look with his father who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "You've got this, son. Knock 'em dead."

"That sounds like the worst idea."

Hugo chuckled and shoved Mephisto towards the door. "It's a figure of speech."

Praxina was pacing outside, scrolls wrapped together and held tightly in her hands as she muttered certain lines over and over again. She spotted Mephisto and quickly grabbed him by the shoulders, scrolls scratching his face. "Please tell me you know about the gifts," she asked, rather panicked.

"Gifts?" Mephisto asked, rather confused and looking over his shoulder at his father. Hugo just frowned thoughtfully before shaking his head and shrugging. He didn't remember Ati mentioning any gifts.

_ Klatznik _ , Praxina mouthed, more to herself but her father and brother still saw.

In the background the Ephedian man was banging his forehead against the door frame. This family was a disaster. All of a sudden the Runic Princess grabbed a hold of him, glaring at him with frantic eyes.

"How soon is 'shortly'," she demanded rather than asked, shaking him; and the Ephedian man couldn't help but remember the distant common ancestry Runics shared with Calixians.

He pulled himself away, brushing off his clothes very indignantly. "Shortly as in a few minutes."

This time Praxina did swear out loud.

"What are we going to do????" she exclaimed, picking up her pacing again. "There's an entire section of the ceremony that involves exchanging gifts!"

"Wait, I get gifts too?" Mephisto asked hopefully.

Praxina glared at him and bapped him over the head with the scrolls. "You get Iris' hand in marriage, idiot."

Hugo cleared his throat and stepped between the two. "What about a gift from the human world?" He glanced at the Ephedian who was frowning heavily by this point and counting to ten over and over. "Would that be acceptable?"

"I believe the Ephedian royals were expecting jewels from your kingdom," he drawled.

Both twins instantly turned to their father. They sure as Klatznik hadn't brought any jewels with them, but maybe-

"Ah shucks, I forgot to bring my giant bag of precious jewels and gemstones with me," Hugo said sarcastically. "I should have known that would be essential to a royal Ephedian marriage proposal."

Maybe not then.

"This is going to be a disaster!" Praxina moaned, dragging her fingers down her face.

"I think I might know what to do…" Mephisto muttered, more to himself, an idea blossoming in his mind.

Thanking the Melzors, the Ephedian gestured for them to start walking down the hallway, and soon enough they arrived in front of the throne room, large double doors shut, ready and waiting to open for them.

"I've got this," Mephisto reassured himself.

Praxina huffed. "I hope so." The great doors opened to reveal the Queen on her throne, the King and Iris either side of her. "Because here we go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also in case you're wondering, yes Hugo will adopt you and be an amazing father to you if you ask him. Will also bake for you.


	12. Breaking Vows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Mephisto faces the royals with nothing to offer but himself, several choices are made. Some of them not in the capital. Indeed it may seem a different vow has been broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew okay so, sorry for the delay, I was going back and editing old chapters. They are now up to date with the following hcs:
> 
> > Ephedian's only have 16 hours in a day  
> > Four Ephedian years are equal to one Earth year, as such, ages and dates are now in Ephedian terms, i.e. the twins are no longer twenty, they are eighty, which is the equivalent.  
> > Hugo's character in older chapters has changed to how he is now - smarter and more caring (I have no idea what I was doing in the older chapters)
> 
> Let me know if you need any further clarifications

Walking the length of the of the throne room seemed to take forever, the other courtly royals and nobles watching their every move.

Xiphi was smiling benevolently, eyes only on Mephisto. A flicker of surprise crossed her features as she noticed the lack of an offering, but she quickly resumed her queenly gaze. Jericho however was not hiding his displeasure, frown carving deep lines into his forehead. Iris could only give a small smile, her nerves still a little all over the place and, of course, her father wasn't helping matters. Not that he had the final decision, but she didn't want her father to hate her future husband. They would have to work alongside each other after all.

Mephisto approached the throne and knelt, giving a sweeping bow. "Your Majesties," he said politely, eyes switching to Iris and smiling, "Your Highness."

Praxina cleared her throat and step forwards.

What followed was a dully odious recital of the scrolls Praxina had read through, each word perfectly enunciated and each inserted descriptor just nice enough to cast Mephisto in a somewhat average light. 

Eventually, Praxina bowed and stepped away; Xiphi standing up to take the spotlight.

"Very well, your offer is true and I am willing to accept. What gifts do you bring?" she asked Mephisto, despite being able to see his empty hands.

Praxina and Hugo exchanged a worried look, but Mephisto smiled gracefully and stood up.

"I bare no gifts Your Majesty," he began, "only myself. I do not wish to  _ buy _ your daughter's hand, but earn it, protect it, cherish it. I offer up my sword, my life, my love, my magic, my soul, and everything else in between. I offer her a shoulder to cry on, words of advice, and sweet kisses in the night. In exchange for Iris' hand, I offer my own." His gaze shifted to Iris', the Princess trying very hard to keep her tears of love from falling. "And I hope she can accept everything I am, for everything she is."

Throughout all of this, Jericho had been silent, but now his expression eased and he nodded subtly. Perhaps he had been wrong about this one.

Xiphi pursed her lips. The boy's words were pretty, but this simply wouldn't-

"The young man has my blessings," Jericho announced, crossing his right hand over his heart in a fist with two fingers up - the Ephedian symbol for love. 

With the Queen looking after him, confused - the boy hadn't even passed the trials - Jericho stepped forwards off the dais and approached Mephisto who instantly dropped to his knees.

Placing a hand on the young Runic's shoulder, Jericho spoke: "You love her, don't you?"

Mephisto risked a look at Iris, then found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He smiled softly, eyes wide and honest and full of love. "I do. With all my soul."

"And you would protect her until the ends of the planet?"

"Until the ends of the universe," Mephisto corrected, eyes still on Iris.

Jericho let out a soft chuckle. "And you will learn your manners, learn how to be the Crown King?"

"Whatever it takes. I just want to be with her."

"Then rise." Mephisto did as he was asked, looking now to Xiphi. "The Prince of Runic has my blessings," Jericho repeated to Xiphi, "does he have yours, my Queen?"

Knowing her husband was rarely wrong, Xiphi smiled and conceded. "Very well."

Iris grinned widely, clasping her hands together with relief. She looked quickly at her mother who nodded, before running into Mephisto arms. As soon as he had her, Mephisto lifted Iris off the ground, spinning her joyfully, then pressed his forehead to hers. "My future Queen," he whispered, voice full of love.

"My future King," Iris whispered back, tears flowing freely now.

Jericho returned to his spot next to Xiphi as Praxina and Hugo walked over to congratulate the couple-to-be.

"You see yourself in him, don't you," Xiphi said with a knowing smile.

"Perhaps," was Jericho's response.

A hum. "You're going to have your work cut out you know. There's so much he doesn't know, so much he has to learn."

"He knows how to be a good, honest man; those are the hardest qualities to teach." Jericho gently tucked a stray hair of Xiphi's behind her ear. "Anything else is child's play. He does truly love her, that is all I needed to see." He smiled at his wife, the years all the stress had put on seemingly fading at the sight of her eyes. "And if he can love our daughter as much as I love you, my Dear, then he will make a fine husband and King."

Xiphi had to admit, her husband did have a point. Besides, this union was necessary regardless. The Runic Prince would have to be a complete disaster of a person for her to deny him her daughter's hand. Not that anyone else needed to know that.

"Very well then," she called the court to attention, various nobles who were milling around for the sake of gossip falling quiet and paying attention to their Queen. "Prince Mephisto's introductory training will take place immediately." Jericho nodded bravely, still doubtful of the boy's abilities even if he did now approve of his affections for Iris. "And I will need to discuss some things with Princess Praxina to then pass on to Queen Acherontia. King Hugo, if you would like to attend your son's training you are more than welcome to." Eyes on Praxina, Xiphi gestured with her arm for her to join her up on the dais as they were exiting via the back door into a meeting room. 

Praxina curtseyed, her mind wandering back to her Queen training. It wasn't ideal for her first formal discussion to be with the High Queen of Ephedia, but at least it would prepare her well for when she eventually did become Queen.

As for Jericho, he stepped down and walked past Mephisto, jerking his head. "C'mon then, let's see how much work I have to do," he said, though not as unkindly as it could've been.

Mephisto exchanged a look with his father, quickly kissed Iris on the forehead - to which Hugo almost squealed out of cuteness - and then together father and son followed after the Ephedian King.

Poor Iris was left wondering where she should go. Her mother and Praxina had already closed the door being the throne, and Iris had worn herself out training earlier that day so going with the men didn't seem like a good choice. Then again she would get to see what Mephisto was like in a battle environment, something that didn't sound too bad, quite the opposite in fact.

Just as Iris was about to run after her father, Ellira walked over from the crowd, two other women in tow.

"Your Highness, allow me to introduce Alma and Doraine," she gestured to the two ladies, "these will be your wedding counsellors, helping to plan the event and ensure everything goes smoothly."

The youngest stepped forwards and hugged Iris, the Princess rather taken aback for a second until Alma started talking, her Voltan accent clear despite her Ephedian appearance. "I'll be designing the flower arrangement for your lake walk," she enthused, "and the food for the after party, and your dresses of course. Oh! And you can call me Allie if you want."

"Dress _ es _ ?" Iris clarified, shocked. She only knew a few bits and bats about weddings - and she'd only even been to a Xerin one and a Voltan one which were both vastly different.

"Mhm! You need about four… no, five I think. One for the greetings, one for the ceremony, one for the lake walk, one for the after party, and of course," Allie nudged Iris and wiggled her eyebrows. "A special one for your first evening with your new husband."

Iris blushed, though not for the reason Alma would assume. At least this meant no one else had heard about her little mistake.

Ellira was very carefully not looking at Iris and instead motioned for Doraine to step forwards.

With a few pale grey streaks in her pink hair, Doraine had been in charge of planning grand weddings for over three hundred Ephedian years, her age and wisdom granting her insight into every tiny little detail. Thanks to her, everyone remembered an Ephedian wedding, and this one would be no different.

"Your Highness, I will be assisting you with the formal side of the wedding, what to say what not to say, though I'm sure you are well aware how to act already," she smiled warmly. "I will walk you through the process, so you have nothing to worry about."

Nodding this time, Iris did find herself rather grateful.

"And I'll also guide my great niece too, this is her internship you see. She's hoping to… well," she smiled proudly and wrapped an arm around Alma, "to be the new me when I kick the bucket. Her mother had one too many so I took her in, you know how it is in Volta," she half whispered that last part and Iris tried to smile politely while also exchanging a pointed look with Alma. 

Racism against Volta was, unfortunately, still going strong. The worst came from the Borealis - their direct neighbours. 

Any disturbance with the islands was blamed on the Voltan's and their 'klatznicking weather', never mind that the weird gravity under the Borealian islands was what caused it; and many Voltans were seen as lesser, dumb or otherwise not as important, or - worse - as 'pests' due to their tendency to breed more (this actually being due to their natural proximity to the fertility flower).

The current Queen of Borealis did not make this any better - she looked down on most of the other royals. Only Ephedia and Xeris seemed exempt from her distrustful gaze. Thankfully, the current generation had no qualms with each other, so there was hope for the future.

And now Iris' immediate future was in the hands of Alma and Doraine.

The pair guided Iris to her quarters, chatting about this and that, about which style of dress would suit her plump figure best, what flavours were Iris' favourites - strawberry and vanilla, how to best decorate the grand hall, etc… These next few hours until dinner were going to seem like an age for Iris.

Luckily for Mephisto, his introductory training would only last a couple of hours, since, because the ceremony had run on until 3pm, there wasn't much sunlight left.

Hugo sat himself down midair on the sidelines, watching as Jericho called one of his best soldiers forward to spar against Mephisto. The chosen soldier was similar to Mephisto in build, albeit with a little more muscle and blue hair rather than burgundy.

The two faced off, held their hands out to exchange pleasantries, then turned to Jericho.

The King pursed his lips, thinking. "Simple hand to hand combat to start with," he decided, "first to hold ground for five seconds." 

They bowed at Jericho, and approached the circular arena. Small steps led up to it, one set at either side. Mephisto took the two O'clock stairs while his opponent took the four O'clock ones opposite, Jericho's magic circle under their feet as he waited to count them down to being the match.

The rules were simple, fight your opponent until one was pushed off the circle and stayed off for -  as Jericho had said - five seconds in this case. No dirty business was allowed such as spitting or tripping up, and hair pulling was strictly off limits of course.

Mephisto stared at the soldier in front of him, finding it very unfair he had a beard more than anything else. So when the King's magic circle flashed and disappeared, Mephisto was caught off guard and was instantly pushed off the circle. 

Grunting, he got to his feet and was soon back in the arena, eyebrows drawing tight in concentration.

In a flash the two were sparring - actually sparring now - Mephisto showing he was indeed quite competent. He managed to knock his opponent out of the arena a couple of times, though the soldier always got back in before the five seconds were up. It was fast paced, and rather entertaining to watch.

Slowly lowering himself onto a bench, Hugo had now aquired popcorn from somewhere and was munching on it fervently as he watched, egging Mephisto on in between bites. 

What exactly he was saying could only be described as highly inappropriate for a sparring match overseen by the King of the entire planet, but incredibly suited to an Ephedian blitzball match for example. Luckily the popcorn was too important to hurl such jabs abundantly.

The match lasted about twenty minutes, by which point Mephisto had only ever been knocked off the one time, and his opponent was close to staying out for good.

One final blow and it was all over.

The soldier fell backwards, tumbling head over heels. In his defense, he did start crawling back to the arena, however too late was the cry and Jericho declared Mephisto the winner.

"And King Runic," he said through gritted teeth, "I believe there's more snacks in the kitchen if you wish to get more." Jericho smiled tightly, showing a little too much teeth. Melzors help the Kingdom if Mephisto ended up like  _ that _ .

Hugo immediately teleported away, never one to turn his nose at the offer of food.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jericho turned back to Mephisto, calling another soldier forwards. "Now move onto magic, same rules apply."

This time it was a female soldier that stepped up, an Ephedian.

She was more of a challenge, but even then, after almost an hour of sparring with magic flying this way and that, and a lot of close calls; Mephisto still won, grinning as he did. He might be a royal, but women tended to be better magic users regardless, so a victory such as this was a great win for him.

Now Jericho himself stepped forwards. "And finally, swordsmanship." He summoned his own -  a broadsword - and stepped up on the circle. "None fatal of course, but no shields allowed."

Mephisto looked rather like a deer in headlights. He was already exhausted from his previous two fights and now he was expected to fight the King of all people?

Hugo arrived back just in time, his arms now full of treats, though he almost dropped them when he saw what was about to take place. "Uhhhh… Remember what I taught you, son!" he called, very unhelpfully since Hugo had taught him to fight dirty.

Which was exactly why the sarcastic reply of, "Gee, thanks, Dad," was entirely fitting.

"PRINCE MEPHISTO!" Jericho called sternly, jolting the boy's attention back to him. "Summon your weapon, it is a blade, is it not?" 

Mephisto nodded, words failing him as he summon his own sword - also a broadsword, but a Borealian one. Curved on one side rather than flat and double edged. Made more for slicing rather than stabbing.

"King Runic, seeing as you're back," Jericho said, rather half-heartedly, "would you care to call the match?"

"Mmrph?" Hugo swallowed his mouthful of food. "Of course, your Majesty, yeah." 

And so when Hugo's magic circle flickered and disappeared, Jericho was more than ready, advancing on Mephisto who had to quickly parry the attack. He instinctively dropped to the floor, hovering above it on his back, and flew between Jericho's legs, swinging himself around ready to attack. The butt of his weapon hit Jericho between his shoulder blades, sending the King out of the circle.

Grunting, Jericho got up, quickly getting back into the circle. "I should have expected that Borealian move," he muttered, more to himself.

Mephisto had no time to respond, his instincts driving him forwards. Swords clashed again, popcorn crunched distantly, feet scuffed against the floor and everything was so fast. Dodge, hit, attack, parry, hit again, duck, skid, get back in  _ quick son _ . Look for weak points, whirl around to avoid the point of a blade and don't you dare lose focus for even a second or it might be your life you lose. Skin almost as tough as the crystal they create bruises, limbs grow weary, focus slips.

And then.

There was just Mephisto left in the circle. 

Jericho, harmed only in ego, got up slowly. Hugo lent forwards in his seat, the last of his popcorn slipping and spilling. Five seconds, that's all the had.

Four, and Jericho had a hand on his knee, sword still on the ground.

Three, and he was breathing heavily.

Two, and he grabbed his sword, propping himself up on it as he struggled to stand.

One, and he laughed. 

A deep bellowing laugh that echoed around the courtyard, his soldiers looking on it shock as the five seconds and their worries vanished. The boy wasn't even King yet, had just fought some of their best soldiers beforehand, and he could do  _ that _ . He could beat the current King.

Almost as if waiting for extra seconds, the soldiers waited a few more before cheering, hollering and yelling loudly in congratulations.

Hugo flew into the circle and wrapped his son in a hug. " _ I'm so proud! _ " he enthused.

Mephisto himself was still in shock. At his father's embrace, his sword evaporated and he clung to Hugo. Half laughing himself, half sighing with relief.

They parted when Jericho cleared his throat and stepped up onto the circle. Hugo nodded at him and went back to his popcorn, collecting it up with magic and choosing to munch on it regardless of how long it'd been on the floor. Waste not, want not after all.

"Looks like you passed," Jericho told Mephisto with a tired smile when the boy turned to face him. "Well done."

Not knowing what to say, Mephisto merely nodded.

He was taken by surprise when Jericho chuckled and wrapped his arm around the smaller man. He lifted Mephisto's arm up in victory and turned him to face his soldiers -  _ Mephisto's _ soldiers soon. "Behold your next general!" Jericho called out, the army cheering even louder if possible.

All in all, the day hadn't turned out so bad.

The rest of it passed fairly quickly. 

A dinner with the royal family, Iris looking rather tired herself from her afternoon long wedding consultation, Xiphi looking stressed as always. Praxina's face a similar one - though she was also trying to remember everything that had been discussed so she could tell her mother. Mephisto was on his best behaviour, proving that he could behave as the King everyone now expected him to be.

Night fell and Mephisto and Iris slept in their own rooms. Iris whispered the sound spell Mephisto had used to her own window, blocking out the sounds of the mob below and finally got a full night's rest in her own room for the first time in weeks.

Breakfast was rather dull, Hugo having been chased out of the kitchen before he could cook up another tray full of goodies. Though he still somehow acquired bacon.

Bags were packed, any leftover political business was attended to. 

And then it was time to leave. 

The Runic family's time at Ephedia over, for the time being. 

Guards escorted the royal Ephedian family outside so they could say their proper farewells.

"Keep up the sword fighting," Jericho told Mephisto with a smile, looking at Hugo with new found respect. "You taught him well, one day you and I shall have to spar."

"One day," Hugo replied with a grin. "Bet I can kick your ass blindfolded."

Jericho spluttered for a moment, then burst out laughing again, Xiphi looking at him rather strangely. "You're a character, King Runic, I'll give you that," he said with a chuckle, patting the other man on the shoulder.

"Praxina," Xiphi said rather loudly, "don't forget what I told you. It is essential that information gets to your mother as soon as possible."

The young Queen in training nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty. I shall tell her immediately."

Unable to hold herself back any longer, Iris ran at Mephisto, pulling him into a hug. "I'm going to miss you," she whispered in his ear.

Mephisto nuzzled the top of her head, not carrying that her parents were watching, or that Hugo was subtly trying to take pictures. "I'll miss you too," he breathed back. "I'll be back soon." He pulled away from her and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Send me letters, okay?"

"Of course," Iris said instantly, the very notion that she  _ wouldn't _ almost alien to her.

"Hey now," Mephisto brushed away the tears that had started to fall. "You cry and I'm going to start crying."

Iris laughed and nuzzled him again, a quick caress of her lips against his as she stepped back. "Stay safe, Prince Mephisto."

"Oh well if you're asking nicely," he joked with a goofy grin.

Praxina rolled her eyes and dug her elbow into Mephisto's side. "That one's for you, Princess," she told Iris with something of a smile.

Laughing, Iris thanked her and then rejoined her parents at the gates.

"Farewell Runics," Xiphi said, tilting her head ever so slightly as she smiled serenely. "Good luck."

Hugo bowed, Mephisto following suit as Praxina curtoseyed. 

Their bags at their feet, leant against legs, the family held hands. And in a flash of red and green, they were gone, arriving inside their own castle.

Hugo dropped everything and burst through the doors, calling loudly for Ati like an excited puppy. His grin crinkled his eyes, shining brightly with love and anticipation. "Acherontia!!! MAQ LUXAGNUM!" He bounded up the stairs, not even bothering with magic and almost tripping up them as a result, and skidded down the corridor towards their bedroom.

The twins laughed softly between them. It might be embarrassing how lovey dovey their parents were half the time, but it was rather… sweet. Though they would never admit this.

Usually Hugo's bellowing laugh could be heard throughout the castle when he eventually found his wife.

Usually.

It was… eerily quiet. Like you could hear a pin drop. Or something shatter.

Mephisto and Praxina exchanged a look. 

There should be noises of celebrations. Some that the twins would rather not hear at all, but for there just to be... nothing? It was wrong. Unheard of. The Runic castle was not a quiet place. It was a place of love, of jokes, of loud laughter. Of family.

Guards took the bags that had been abandoned, though the twins didn't notice, didn't care.

Together - always together - they climbed the stairs. One gentle step at a time, shoes scuffing loudly in the large corridor. Mephisto, as if he was a child again, clutched at Praxina's hand, and she clutched back. Just as nervous, just as tightly. Just as scared. But they were each other's support, always had been, always would be.

So long as they had each other close - whether in mind, body, spirit, or soul - they could do anything.

"Together?" Praxina asked, her expression determined.

Mephisto could only nod as he gazed across the battlefield that had swept through their home. The corridor stretched for an age, light flickering darkly and casting rippling invasive shadows along the walls. 

The Queen and King's royal quarters' doors were opened a sliver, a harsh light escaping it, marred by a large silhouette - Hugo. On his knees, fists curled up into balls by his side.

This wasn't home.

Everything was the same as always, yet it felt different.

Heartbeats throbbed in unison, loud and overbearing. Hurting and filling throats and calling to tears behind wide terrified eyes.

That was when they heard it. 

The bitter, despondent cries. The heart-wrenching, inconsolable sobs. The whimperings of a lost, broken man. Barely a sound at all, but it cut through the long hall like jagged glass.

Grips tightened, and suddenly the twins would do anything to return to the silence.

Almost without their permission, their legs pulled them forwards, a cautious approach. A fearful one that sought to keep the truth hidden away for as long as possible. But alas, the hall, though long, was not infinite. 

Hearing them approach, because of course he did, Hugo turned to face them.

His face was a blotched mess of tears, eyebrows drooping so much it seemed like he may never be happy again. And in his hand, the chain dangling down limply between his fingers, Acherontia's locket. The one she never took off. The one she cherished and swore to keep close to her forever. The one she'd promise to always keep close to her own heart. Perfectly intact. Perfectly harrowing in its existence without  _ her _ .

A voice older than time itself escaped Hugo's shaking lips. "I… I can't find her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :>


End file.
